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HOWELL'S  LETTERS 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES 
VOLUME  I 


A o// //.)/// fire  A>  ///e  f''//V//j/^//  rr////(>// 


JAMES     HOWELL 


IN      A      FRONTISPIECE      GROUP      OF      TEN      SYMBOLICAL 

DRAWINGS     MADE     BY     F.    H.    VAN      HOVE     FOR     THE      1678 

EDITION      OF      THE      "FAMILIAR      LETTERS" 


EPISTOLi^  HO-ELIAN.E  OR 
THE  FAMILIAR  LETTERS  OF 

JAMES    HOWELL 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION   BY  AGNES  REPPLIER 
VOLUME  I 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

I  908 


COPYRIGHT  1907   BY  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


/ 


SECOND  IMPRESSION REPRINTED  JANUARY,   I908 


INTRODUCTION 

IF  the  unresponsive  gods,  so  often  invoked,  so 
seldom  complaisant,  would  grant  me  one  sweet 
boon,  I  should  ask  of  them  that  I  might  join  that 
little  band  of  authors,  who,  unknown  to  the  wide 
careless  world, remain  from  generation  to  generation 
the  friends  of  a  few  fortunate  readers.  Such  authors 
have  no  conspicuous  foothold  among  those  opu- 
lent, symmetrical  volumes  that  stand  on  drill  in  rich 
men's  libraries,  as  well  uniformed  and  as  untried 
as  a  smart  militia  regiment.  They  have  been  sel- 
dom seen  in  the  lists  of  the  hundred  best  books. 
The  committees  who  select  reading  matter  for  their 
native  towns  are  often  unacquainted  with  their 
titles.  The  great  department  stores  of  our  great 
cities  never  offer  them  to  the  great  public  in  twenty- 
five  cent  editions.  Yet  they  live  for  centuries  a 
tranquil  life  of  dignified  seclusion.  When  they  are 
lifted  down  from  their  remote  corners  on  the  book- 
shelves, it  is  with  a  friendly  touch.  The  hands 
that  hold  them,  caress  them.  The  eyes  that  glance 
over  them,  smile  at  the  familiar  pages.  Their  read- 
ers feel  for  them  a  personal  sentiment,  approach- 
ing them  with  mental  ease,  and  with  a  sweet  and 
certain  intimacy  of  companionship.  These  authors 
grow  very  shabby  as  the  years  roll  by,  and  some- 
times—  though  rarely  —  a  sympathetic  publisher 

394.930 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

turns  his  attention  from  the  whirllnor  vortex  of  new 
books,  and  gives  them  a  fresh  outfit;  presents  them 
—  if  he  has  a  generous  soul  —  with  the  clearest  of 
type,  the  finest  of  paper,  the  richest  and  most  appro- 
priate of  bindings.  So  embellished,  they  enjoy  little 
dignified  triumphs  of  their  own,  and  become  the 
cherished  property  of  that  ever  diminishing  minor- 
ity who,  by  some  happy  turn  of  fate,  are  fitted  to 
enjoy  the  pleasure  which  literary  art  can  give. 

Such  a  writer  —  half  forgotten,  yet  wholly  be- 
loved—  is  James  Howell,  "Clerk  of  the  Council 
in  Extraordinary,"  under  Charles  I,  "Historio- 
grapher Royal,"  under  Charles  II,  author  of  three- 
score works  now  laid  to  rest,  and  of  the  "  Famil- 
iar Letters"  which  can  never  be  laid  to  rest  until 
accurate  observation,  a  lively  narrative,  and  a 
genius  for  seizing  the  one  right  word  have  lost 
their  power  to  please.  A  student  of  the  world  was 
James  Howell,  a  man  of  wide  experience  and  of 
fluctuating  fortunes.  The  descendant  of  an  old  and 
honourable  Welsh  family,  with  titled  relatives  of 
whom  he  felt  reasonably  proud,  he  was  yet  poor 
in  estate,  as  befitted  one  of  a  country  clergyman's 
fifteen  children  ;  so  that  while  his  elder  brother 
was  the  august  Bishop  of  Bristol,  his  younger  ones 
were  apprenticed  to  trade,  like  lads  of  ignoble 
birth.  Being,  happily,  but  the  second  son,  his  own 
tuition  was  of  the  best.  Sent  to  a  "choice  metho- 
dical school  "  at  Hereford,  he  was  early  beaten  into 
a  love  of  learning;  and  at  Oxford  he  acquired  — 
or  so  at  least  he  says  —  "  the  patrimony  of  a  liberal 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

education."  Thus  equipped,  it  behooved  him  to 
carve  his  own  career,  and  the  congenial  fashion  in 
which  he  set  about  accomplishing  this  difficult  task 
was  by  travelling  for  three  years  as  the  agent  of  a 
London  glass  factory,  the  owners  of  which  sought 
to  obtain  workmen,  materials,  and  inspiration  from 
the  great  artistic  centres  of  Europe. 

Never  was  a  happier  chance  thrown  in  a  young 
man's  way.  Never  was  there  a  more  cheerful  and 
observant  voyager.  Byron's  sensible  axiom,  "  Com- 
fort must  not  be  expected  by  folks  that  go  a-plea- 
suring,"  expressed  to  perfection  young  Howell's 
point  of  view.  "  Rocked  and  shaken  "  at  sea,  beset 
by  countless  difficulties  on  land,  he  ever  stoutly 
maintained  "  that  though  these  frequent  removes 
and  tumblings  under  climes  of  differing  temper 
were  not  without  some  danger,  yet  the  delight 
which  accompany'd  them  was  far  greater;  and  it  is 
impossible  for  any  man  to  conceive  the  true  plea- 
sure of  peregrination,  but  he  who  actually  enjoys, 
and  puts  it  into  practice."  Before  quitting  Eng- 
land, he  obtained  a  warrant  from  the  Council, 
authorizing  him  to  remain  for  three  years  on  the 
Continent,  and  to  visit  any  spot  he  chose,  with  the 
exception  of  Rome,  and  St  Omer,  where  stood  the 
great  Jesuit  college.  Such  was  the  parental  care 
which  Protestant  England  in  King  James'  day  took 
of  her  children's  faith, — an  astute  precaution  for 
the  most  part,  but  needless  in  this  particular  case. 
Howell  possessed  all  his  life  that  tolerance,  almost 
amounting  to  sympathy,  for  other  people's  creeds 


vili  INTRODUCTION   • 

which  can  be  trusted  to  leave  a  man  serenely  root- 
ed in  his  own.  He  never  offered  friction  enough 
to  light  a  fresh  fire.  His  admiration  for  the  fa- 
mous shrine  at  Monserrat  was  as  untroubled  by  pious 
scruples  as  was  his  admiration  for  the  Arsenal  of 
Venice,  or  the  wine  of  Valentia.  When  he  found 
himself  without  funds  in  Turin,  he  philosophically 
joined  a  band  of  pilgrims,  and  "with  gentle  pace 
and  easy  journeys  "  proceeded  on  foot  to  Lyons.  It 
is  true  that  in  a  letter  written  years  later  to  Sir 
Edward  Knight,  a  letter  in  which  he  confesses  am- 
ple tolerance  for  Turk  and  infidel,  as  bearing  "  the 
same  stamp  that  I  do,  though  the  inscription  dif- 
fer," he  adds  somewhat  unexpectedly  that  he  "  could 
be  content  to  see  an  Anabaptist  go  to  Hell  on  a 
Brownist's  back  ;  "  but  this  was  the  expression  of 
a  civic  rather  than  of  a  religious  animosity.  Turks 
stayed  in  Turkey,  out  of  sight  and  hearing ;  and 
infidels  went  their  regrettable  way  in  silence.  But 
for  "  those  schismatics  that  puzzle  the  sweet  peace 
of  the  church,"  as  well  as  for  all  who  were  "  pen- 
dulous and  brangling  in  religion,"  he  had  a  strong 
instinctive  dislike.  The  passion  for  controversy 
which  flamed  high  in  his  day  left  him  wholly  and 
happily  unconcerned. 

This  mental  calm  permitted  Howell  to  enjoy 
the  ripe  fruits  of  that  great  Latin  civilization  which 
was  then  ebbing  slowly  from  its  marvellous  heights 
of  fulfilment.  The  beauty  and  the  glory  of  Italy 
held  him  spellbound.  What  generous  epithets  he 
lavishes  upon  those  superb  cities  whose  very  names 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

set  the  world's  heart  a-beating.  "  Venice  the  rich, 
Padua  the  learned,  Bologna  the  fat,  Rome  the 
holy,  Naples  the  gentle,  Genoa  the  proud,  Flor- 
ence the  fair,  and  Milan  the  great."  The  first 
beautiful  woman,  he  tells  us,  was  made  of  Venice 
glass,  lovely,  and  brittle  withal ;  and  "  Eve  spake 
Italian  when  Adam  was  seduced,"  for  in  what 
other  tongue  could  she  have  been  so  irresistible  ? 
Notwithstanding  the  injunction  of  the  Council, 
he  made  his  way  to  Rome,  and,  with  a  swift  and 
sure  intuition,  —  rare  in  the  island-born,  —  pro- 
nounces it  "  Communis  Patria."  "  For  every  one 
that  is  within  the  compass  of  the  Latin  Church 
finds  himself  here,  as  it  were,  at  home,  and  in  his 
mother's  house,  in  regard  of  interest  in  religion, 
which  is  the  cause  that  for  one  native,  there  be 
five  strangers  that  sojourn  in  this  city." 

For  Spain,  too,  Howell  has  his  meed  of  praise, 
extolling  alike  the  manners  of  the  great,  who 
never  gave  an  alms  save  with  courtesy,  and  the  self- 
respect  of  the  poor,  whom  he  found  to  be  sturdy 
and  rational,  with  none  of  the  servility  of  the  down- 
trodden French  peasant.  He  warms  into  eloquence 
over  the  free  Biscayan  shore,  virgin  of  Moors  for 
seven  hundred  years,  and  tells  us  that  the  King 
of  Spain  always  pulled  off  one  shoe  before  tread- 
ing on  that  honoured  soil,  which  he  is  proud  to 
compare  to  unconquered  Wales.  His  characteristic 
closeness  of  observation  is  everywhere  apparent, 
whether  it  be  in  a  brief  and  careless  statement,  as 
"  'T  is  no  new  thing  for  the  French  to  be  always 


X  INTRODUCTION 

a-doing ;  they  have  a  stirring  genius;"  or,  in  the 
epitomized  history  of  the  Netherlands  which  he 
"  huddled  up  "  a  few  years  later  at  Antwerp,  and 
which  is  concise,  graphic,  tolerant,  entertaining, 
everything,  —  save  perhaps  accurate,  —  that  his- 
tory ought  to  be. 

On  his  return  to  England,  Howell  was  engaged 
as  a  travelling  tutor  for  the  two  young  sons  of 
Lord  Savage  ;  but  unable  or  unwilling  to  fill  so 
responsible  a  post  for  Roman  Catholic  pupils,  he 
reluctantly  abandoned  this  "  dainty  race  of  chil- 
dren," and  accepted  a  somewhat  similar  position 
with  Richard  Altham,  son  of  Baron  Altham,  and 
"  one  of  the  hopefullest  young  men  of  this  king- 
dom." In  1622  he  had  the  rare  good  fortune  to 
be  appointed  a  royal  agent,  and  sent  to  Spain  in 
the  interests  of  the  Turkey  Company,  which 
claimed  compensation  from  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment for  the  seizure  of  one  of  its  ships  by  the 
Viceroy  of  Sardinia.  Full  of  hope,  and  proud  of 
the  importance  of  his  mission,  Howell  flung  him- 
self with  ardour  into  a  business  which  might  have 
reasonably  discouraged  an  older  man.  He  read 
all  the  papers  pertaining  to  the  suit,  "and  I  find 
they  are  higher  than  I  in  bulk,  tho'  closely 
press'd  together;"  he  pushed  his  claim  whenever 
and  wherever  he  could  find  a  hearing ;  he  made 
perceptible  progress,  and  was  confident  of  success, 
when  suddenly  on  the  evening  of  March  7, 
there  appeared  in  Madrid  two  English  travellers, 
Mr  John   Smith,  and   Mr  Thomas  Smith,  who 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

within  a  few  hours  were  discovered  to  be  Charles, 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  the  Marquis  of  Buckingham. 
A  more  disastrous  episode  for  Howell,  or  a 
more  fortunate  one  for  his  readers,  it  would  be 
hard  to  imagine.  Nothing  can  be  livelier  than  his 
account  of  this  strange  adventure  which  set  the 
world  agape.  How  Mr  Thomas  Smith  (Buck- 
ingham), "with  a  portmantle  under  his  arm," 
knocked  at  Lord  Bristol's  gates,  while  Mr  John 
Smith  (the  Prince)  waited  in  the  dark  on  the  other 
side  of  the  street.  How  Lord  Bristol,  "in  a  kind 
of  astonishment,"  conducted  his  strange  visitors 
into  his  bed-chamber,  and  sent  off  a  post  that 
night  to  England,  to  acquaint  the  King  of  their 
arrival.  How  the  Spanish  Court  was  thrown  into 
confusion,  and  the  Infanta — for  whose  sake  the 
Prince  had  hazarded  this  voyage  —  began,  like  fair 
Katharine  of  France,  the  ardent  study  of  English. 
How  the  Prince  leaped  the  wall  of  the  Casa  de 
Campo  to  have  speech  with  his  lady,  and  she 
fled  shrieking  from  so  bold  a  wooer.  How  the 
common  people  of  Spain  were  mightily  pleased 
with  the  Englishman's  gallantry,  and  swore  that 
he  and  their  Infanta  should  have  been  wedded 
the  night  he  reached  Madrid.  How  Lord  Bristol, 
in  anticipation  of  the  marriage  ceremony,  caused 
thirty  new  liveries  of  watchet  velvet  and  silver  lace 
to  be  made  for  his  household,  "  the  best  sort 
whereof  were  valued  at  eighty  pounds  a  livery  ; " 
—  and  we  prate  now  about  the  ruinous  expenses 
which  our  ambassadors  are  forced  to  meet !    How, 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

after  months  of  excitement,  the  bubble  collapsed, 
the  great  match  came  to  naught,  and  the  affronted 
Spaniards  were  left  in  no  mood  to  conciliate  Eng- 
land, or  reimburse  the  Turkey  Company;  —  all 
these  things  are  described  in  the  "  Familiar  Let- 
ters "  with  a  wealth  of  picturesque  detail  which 
only  an  eye-witness  can  supply. 

The  failure  of  his  negotiations  left  young  How- 
ell rich  in  nothing  but  experience,  and  we  find  him 
next  acting  as  secretary  to  Lord  Scroop, "  a  stable 
home  employment,"  with  which  he  was  marvel- 
lously well  content.  By  this  time  King  James  was 
dead,  the  Scottish  doctors  had  ceased  muttering 
dark  doubts  concerning  the  plaister  which  the 
Countess  of  Buckingham  had  applied  to  His  Maj- 
esty's stomach,  and  Charles  the  First  had  begun, 
under  melancholy  auspices,  —  which  the  letters  do 
not  fail  to  note,  —  his  unhappy  anddisastrous reign. 
In  1628  Howell  was  sent  to  Parliament,  as  member 
for  Richmond  ;  and  in  1632  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 
then  quitting  England  as  Ambassador  Extraor- 
dinary to  the  Court  of  Denmark,  offered  him  the 
post  of  secretary,  an  offer  immediately  accepted. 
The  purpose  of  the  embassy  was  to  condole  with 
the  Danish  King  on  the  death  of  the  Queen  Dow- 
ager, grandmother  of  Charles  the  First,  —  a  lady 
of  great  thrift  and  enterprise,  who  was  reputed  to 
have  been  the  richest  queen  in  Christendom.  A 
merry  condolence  it  was,  as  befitted  the  mourning 
of  an  heir.  To  Howell,  as  orator,  was  consigned 
the  congenial  task  of  making  three  long  Latin  ora- 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

tions;  —  one  to  the  King  of  Denmark,  one  to  his 
eldest  son,  Prince  Christian,  and  a  third  to  Prince 
Frederick,  Archbishop  of  Bremen.  After  these 
preHminaries  were  over,  the  real  business  of  mourn- 
ing began,  and  Howell  betrays  a  justifiable  pride 
at  the  ability  of  an  English  nobleman  to  cope 
with  the  mighty  drinkers  of  the  North. 

"  The  King  feasted  my  Lord  once,  and  it  lasted 
from  eleven  of  the  clock  till  towards  the  evening, 
during  which  time  the  King  began  thirty-five 
healths;  —  the  first  to  the  Emperor,  the  second 
to  his  nephew  of  England,  and  so  went  over  all 
the  Kings  and  Queens  of  Christendom  ;  but  he 
never  remembered  the  Prince  Palsgrave's  health, 
nor  his  niece's  all  the  while.  The  King  was  taken 
away  at  last  in  his  chair,  but  my  Lord  of  Leices- 
ter bore  up  stoutly  all  the  while  ;  so  that  when 
there  came  two  of  the  King's  Guard  to  take  him 
by  the  arms,  as  he  was  going  down  the  stairs,  my 
Lord  shook  them  off,  and  went  alone. 

"  The  next  morning  I  went  to  Court  for  some 
despatches,  but  the  King  was  gone  a-hunting  at 
break  of  day  ;  but  going  to  some  other  of  his 
officers,  their  servants  told  me  without  any  ap- 
pearance of  shame  that  their  masters  were  drunk 
overnight,  and  so  it  would  be  late  before  they 
would  rise." 

It  was  after  his  return  from  this  diplomatic  mis- 
sion that  Howell,  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  of- 
fice, settled  in  London,  and  "commenced  author" 
with  the  publication  of  "Dodona's  Grove,  or  the 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

Vocall  Concert,"  and  of  a  poem,  "The  Vote,"  ded- 
icated as  a  New  Year's  gift  to  the  King.  There  is 
little  doubt  that  he  was  at  this  time  a  royalist  "in- 
telligencer," and  that  his  ingrained  habit  of  collect- 
ing news  made  him  a  useful  servant  of  the  crown. 
It  was  a  difficult  and  somewhat  dangerous  game 
to  play,  —  rewards  and  penalties  following  in  quick 
succession.  In  August,  1642,  he  was  appointed 
Clerk  of  the  Council  in  Extraordinary,  and  four 
months  later  he  was  arrested  by  order  of  the  Long 
Parliament,  and  summarily  committed  to  the  Fleet, 
then  used  as  a  prison  for  political  offenders  as  well 
as  for  less  fortunate  debtors. 

In  the  Fleet  Howell  remained  (I  will  not  say 
languished,  for  he  was  not  the  type  of  captive  to 
languish)  for  eight  long  years.  He  always  stoutly 
maintained  that  he  was  imprisoned  for  loyalty  to 
his  king;  but  Anthony  a  Wood  asserts  with  some 
churlishness  that  he  was  arrested  for  debt,  "  being 
prodigally  inclined."  The  truth  seems  to  be  that 
his  debts  afforded  a  reasonable  excuse  for  his  im- 
prisonment; and  that  Parliament  had  no  mind  to 
set  him  free  while  there  was  still  a  field  for  his 
activities.  Perhaps  the  Fleet  saved  him  from 
greater  perils.  It  certainly  afforded  him  both  an 
opportunity  and  an  incentive  to  write.  We  owe 
a  great  deal  in  letters  to  those  long  leisurely  cap- 
tivities which  gave  the  prisoner  solitude,  quiet, 
time  for  meditation,  an  opening  for  philosophy, 
and  —  if  he  were  nobly  disposed  —  a  chance  to 
purge  his  soul,  to  refine  it  in  the  fires  of  affliction. 


INTRODUCTION  xV 

**  Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make. 
Nor  iron  bars  a  cage  ; 
Minds  innocent  and  quiet  take 
These  for  a  hermitage." 

Howell,  it  is  true,  petitioned  resolutely  for  his 
release, —  how  could  a  man  do  less?  —  but  he 
wrote  many  more  profitable  things  than  petitions 
during  the  eight  years  that  he  remained  in  the 
Fleet.  Among  a  score  of  books  and  pamphlets 
dating  from  this  period  are  his  "  Perfect  Descrip- 
tion of  the  People  and  Country  of  Scotland,"  —  a 
work  which  Scotchmen  were  never  known  to  love; 
and  "  Instructions  for  Forreine  Travel"  (the  earli- 
est forerunner  of  Murray),  with  a  dedication  in 
verse  to  the  young  Prince  of  Wales,  in  which  that 
promising  youth  is  likened  —  on  the  score  of 
swarthiness,  there  being  no  other  points  of  resem- 
blance—  to  the  Black  Prince.  In  1645  appeared 
the  first  volume  of  letters  under  the  comprehensive 
title,  "  Epistolae  Ho-Elianae :  Familiar  Letters, 
Domestic  and  Foreign,  divided  into  Sundrv  Sec- 
tions, partly  Historical,  Political  and  Philosoph- 
ical,"—  a  title  which  conscientiously  told  all  it 
had  to  tell.  The  book  was  dedicated  to  the  King 
in  a  few  simple  and  sensible  words,  its  author 
venturing  to  remind  His  Majesty  that  many  of 
its  pages  recalled  his  own  royal  deeds.  "And  'tis 
well  known  that  letters  can  treasure  up  and  trans- 
mit matters  of  State  to  posterity  with  as  much 
faith,  and  be  as  authentic  registers,  and  safe  repos- 
itories of  truth  as  any  story  whatsoever." 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

The  success  of  the  venture  induced  Howell, 
who  sorely  needed  money,  to  publish  a  second 
volume  of  letters  while  he  was  still  in  the  Fleet, 
and  a  third  and  fourth  after  his  release  in  1651. 
By  this  date,  England,  for  the  first  time  in  all  her 
glorious  history,  had  no  longer  a  king  to  accept 
panegyrics;  and  Howell,  nothing  daunted,  turned 
his  attention  to  the  Lord  Protector,  to  whom,  in 
1655,  he  dedicated  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Some 
Sober  Inspections  made  into  the  Carriage  and 
Consults  of  the  late  Long  Parliament."  Exulting, 
not  unnaturally,  in  the  overthrow  of  his  old  ene- 
mies, he  compared  Cromwell's  drastic  measures 
with  those  of  that  somewhat  arbitrary  ruler,  Charles 
Martel,  which  commendation,  though  much  cen- 
sured by  royalists,  seems  to  have  been  tolerably 
sincere.  Howell  loved  and  revered  the  monar- 
chy. It  was  his  reasonable  hope  that  Charles  II 
would  at  some  distant  day  succeed  to  his  father's 
throne ;  but  in  the  mean  time  Cromwell  was  a 
strong  man,  armed,  keeping  his  court,  and  those 
things  were  in  peace  which  he  possessed.  Like 
Carlyle,  Howell  had  a  natural  taste  for  "  one  man 
power,"  and  profoundly  distrusted  that  "waver- 
ing, windy  thing,"  that  "  humoursome  and  cross- 
grained  animal,"  the  common  Englishman,  or, 
indeed,  the  common  citizen  of  any  land.  The 
tolerant  King  understood,  and  probably  sympa- 
thized with  this  mental  attitude,  for,  a  year  after 
the  Restoration,  he  granted  the  author  two  hun- 
dred pounds  from  his  privy   purse  ;  and  subse- 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

quently  appointed  him  to  the  office  of  Histori- 
ographer General,  with  a  salary  of  one  hundred 
pounds  a  year,  which  —  like  most  salaries  of  the 
period  —  was  seldom  or  never  paid. 

To  the  end  of  his  life  Howell  wrote  with  the 
unabated  industry  of  a  needy  man.  That  he  felt 
himself  ill-used  is  proved  by  his  sarcastic  "  Cordial 
for  Cavaliers,"  in  which  he  essays  to  console  his 
fellow  sufferers  for  the  supposed  neglect  of  their 
monarch  by  proffering  them  a  wealth  of  bitter  and 
unsustaining  philosophy.  A  fusillade  of  broad- 
sheets followed  its  publication  ;  for  Howell  had 
his  enemies,  and  some  of  them  were  of  the  opinion 
that  the  man  who  had  so  enthusiastically  com- 
pared Cromwell  to  Charles  Martel  should  have 
been  more  modest  in  demanding  rewards  from 
Charles  Stuart,  who,  indeed,  would  have  needed 
a  world  as  wide  as  Alexander's  to  have  satisfied  all 
petitioners.  It  is  pleasant  to  know,  however,  that 
when  Howell  died  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-one, 
he  was  able  to  leave  a  number  of  small  legacies, 
among  them  two  to  his  sisters,  Gwin  and  Roberta- 
ap-Rice,  —  names  that  thrill  the  ordinary  reader 
with  delight.  He  was  buried,  by  his  own  desire, 
in  the  Temple  Church,  and  his  monument,  for 
which  he  bequeathed  the  sum  of  thirty  pounds, 
is  still  in  excellent  preservation,  though  few  there 
are  who  pause  to  read  its  modest  Latin  inscription. 

It  is  useless  at  this  late  date  to  ask  captious 
questions  anent  the  integrity  of  the  "Familiar 
Letters."    Of  the  threescore  works,  ranging  from 


xvlli  INTRODUCTION 

broadsheets  to  folios,  which  Howell  left  behind 
him,  they  alone  have  survived  the  wear  and  tear 
of  centuries.  They  have  been  read  for  nearly 
three  hundred  years,  and  are  likely  to  be  read 
with  unshaken  delight  for  at  least  three  hundred 
more.  That  he  wrote  them  all  is  certain.  That 
some  of  them  are  the  original  texts,  we  have  every 
reason  to  believe.  People  who  received  letters  in 
those  appreciative  days  treasured  them  sacredly, 
and  our  best  friend,  the  waste-paper  basket,  seems 
to  have  been  then  unknown.  Howell  would  have 
had  no  great  difficulty  in  securing  the  return  of 
part  of  his  correspondence.  Moreover,  it  is  likely 
that  so  prudent  and  methodical  a  gentleman  kept 
copies  or  rough  draughts  of  his  more  important 
letters,  —  a  reprehensible  custom  which  it  is  not 
for  us,  who  in  this  instance  profit  by  it,  to  criticize. 
We  know,  too,  that  it  was  his  habit,  especially 
while  abroad,  to  jot  down  the  "  notablest  occur- 
rences "  of  each  day  in  a  "  fair  alphabetique  paper 
book  ;  "  and  it  was  from  such  a  valuable  reserve 
that  he  drew  his  epistolary  supplies.  To  pro- 
nounce the  letters  mere  fabrications  on  the  traduc- 
ing evidence  of  Anthony  a  Wood  would  be  to  fly 
far  of  the  mark.  They  are  too  full  of  intimate 
detail,  of  local  colour,  of  little  tell-tale  accuracies 
for  any  such  undermining  theory.  But  if  some 
of  them  were,  indeed,  fresh  minted  in  the  Fleet, 
composed  in  that  dim  solitude,  when  memories 
of  the  wide  sunlit  world  he  had  traversed  so  mer- 
rily thronged  through  the  prisoner's  mind,  we,  at 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

least,  have  no  reason  to  complain.    It  would  have 
been  hard  to  turn  captivity  to  better  purpose. 

In  the  "  Familiar  Letters,"  as  in  many  another 
old  and  seldom  acknowledged  book,  we  find  a 
store  of  curious  anecdotes  which  have  been  retold 
ever  since,  to  the  enrichment  of  more  modern 
authors.  Howell  listened  with  equal  interest  —  and 
equal  credulity  —  to  the  gossip  of  foreign  courts, 
to  the  "  severe  jests  "  which  passed  from  mouth 
to  mouth,  and  to  the  marvellous  stories  of  the 
common  people.  He  tells  us  the  tale  of  the  Pied 
Piper  of  Hamelin,  prefacing  it  with  the  grave 
assurance  that  he  would  not  relate  it,  "  were  there 
not  some  ground  of  truth  in  it."  He  tells  us  of 
the  bird  with  a  white  breast  which  presaged  the 
death  of  all  the  Oxenham  family  ;  and  the  pleas- 
ant story  of  the  Duke  of  Ossuna  and  the  galley 
slaves ;  and  about  that  devout  Earl  of  Hapsburg 
who,  by  a  single  act  of  piety,  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  family's  greatness.  He  tells  us  the  pitiful 
tale  of  the  Sire  de  Coucy,  who,  dying  in  battle 
with  the  Turk,  bade  his  servant  carry  back  his 
heart  to  the  Dame  de  Fayel,  whom  he  had  long 
and  ardently  loved.  This  gift  the  lady's  husband 
intercepted,  and  had  it  made  into  a  "well-relished 
dish,"  which  he  compelled  his  wife  to  eat,  assur- 
ing her  it  was  a  cordial  for  her  weakness.  When 
she  had  eaten  it  all,  he  revealed  to  her  the  truth  ; 
whereupon,  "in  a  sudden  exaltation  of  joy,  she 
with  a  far-fetch'd  sigh  said,  *  This  is  a  precious 
cordial   indeed  ; '   and  so  lick'd   the  dish,  saying, 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

*  It  is  so  precious  that  't  is  pity  to  put  ever  any 
meat  upon  't.'  So  she  went  to  bed,  and  in  the 
morning  she  was  found  stone-dead." 

Howell's  style  is  eminently  well  adapted  for 
the  news-letter,  for  a  form  of  composition  which 
requires  vividness  and  lucidity  rather  than  grace 
and  distinction.  He  writes  in  sentences  of  easy 
length  and  simple  construction,  discarding  for  the 
most  part  those  sonorous  and  labyrinthine 
masses  of  words  in  which  the  scholarly  writers 
of  his  day  wrapped  up  their  serious  thoughts. 
A  letter,  he  tells  us,  should  be  "  short-coated  and 
closely  couch'd,"  and  he  has  scant  patience  with 
those  who  "  preach  when  they  should  epistolize." 
No  one  has  ever  surpassed  him  in  the  narrator's 
art  of  snatching  the  right  word,  of  remembering 
and  recording  those  precise  details  which  can  be 
trusted  to  give  value  and  vraisemblance,  of  tell- 
ing a  lively  and  unembarrassed  tale.  His  account 
of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham's  murder,  of  the 
visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  Madrid,  of  the 
hideous  execution  of  Ravaillac,  are  so  vigorous 
and  sympathetic,  so  full  of  intimate  and  signifi- 
cant touches,  that  it  is  hard  to  realize  he  was  not 
always  an  eye-witness  of  the  events  so  graphically 
described.  He  gathered  his  information  from 
every  available  source,  and  often  with  astonishing 
speed.  The  postmaster  of  Stilton  came  to  his 
bedside  to  tell  him  that  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
had  been  killed;  and  the  Earl  of  Rutland,  riding 
in  all  haste  to  London,  alighted  from  his  horse  to 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

confirm  the  news,  and  to  add  picturesque  partic- 
ulars, which  Howell  in  his  turn  sent  off  without 
an  hour's  delay  to  the  Countess  of  Sunderland. 
It  sounds  like  the  inspired  methods  of  the  re- 
porter. 

None  of  the  impersonality  of  the  modern  news- 
vender,  however,  can  be  charged  to  Howell's  ac- 
count.   His  motto, 

*'  As  keys  do  open  chests. 
So  letters  open  breasts," 

but  faintly  indicates  the  exhaustive  nature  of  his 
unreserve.  At  every  period  of  his  career  we  see 
him  with  extraordinary  distinctness.  A  man  full 
of  the  zest  of  life,  of  sanguine  temperament,  of  cath- 
olic tastes,  of  restless  and  indomitable  energy.  A 
man  who  met  misfortunes  bravely,  and  who  was 
touched  to  finer  issues  by  the  austere  hand  of  ad- 
versity. An  outspoken  man  withal,  after  the  fash- 
ion of  his  day,  whose  occasional  grossness  of  tongue 
—  or  of  pen  —  seems  due,  less  to  the  love  of  pru- 
rient things,  than  to  the  absence  of  that  guiding 
principle  of  taste,  which  in  every  age  can  be  trusted 
to  keep  finely-bred  natures  uncontaminate.  "The 
priggish  little  clerk  of  King  Charles'  Council," 
Thackeray  calls  Howell,  —  perhaps  because  he 
enjoyed  making  Latin  orations,  and  quotes  the 
classics  oftener  than  seems  imperative.  But  of 
the  essence  of  priggishness,  which  is  measuring  big 
things  by  small  standards,  the  author  of  the  "  Fa- 
miliar   Letters "    is    nowhere    guilty.     A   devout 


xxli  INTRODUCTION 

churchman  who  reverenced  other  men's  creeds ; 
a  loyal  English  subject  who  loved  other  lands  than 
his  ;  a  cheerful  traveller  who  forgave  France  her 
Frenchmen,  and  Spain  her  Spaniards ;  a  philo- 
sopher whose  philosophy  stood  the  strain  of  mis- 
fortune ; —  Howell  exhibits  some  finer  qualities 
than  the  soul  of  a  prig  can  sustain.  A  hundred 
years  before  the  publication  of  the  "  Letters," 
that  revered  scholar,  Roger  Ascham,  wrote  with 
pious  self-content :  "  I  was  once  in  Italy  myself; 
but  I  thank  God  my  abode  there  was  but  nine 
days."  A  hundred  years  after  Howell  had  been 
laid  to  rest,  a  respected  English  gentleman,  Mr 
Edgeworth,  prefaced  his  work  on  education  with 
this  complacency  : 

"To  pretend  to  teach  courage  to  Britons  would 
be  as  ridiculous  as  it  is  unnecessary  ;  and,  except 
among  those  who  are  exposed  to  the  contagion  of 
foreign  manners,  we  may  boast  of  the  superior  de- 
licacy of  our  fair  countrywomen;  a  delicacy  acquired 
from  domestic  example,  and  confirmed  by  public 
approbation." 

Between  these  triumphant  insularities  let  us  read 
what  the  "little  clerk  of  King  Charles*  Council" 
has  to  say.  He  is  writing  from  Naples  to  one 
"  Christopher  Jones  of  Gray's  Inn." 

"  Believe  it.  Sir,  that  a  year  well  employed  abroad 
by  one  of  mature  judgment  (which  you  know  I 
want  very  much)  advantageth  more  in  point  of  use- 
ful and  solid  knowledge  than  three  in  any  of  our 
universities.    You  know  '  running  waters  are  the 


INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

purest,'  so  they  that  traverse  the  world  up  and 
down  have  the  clearest  understanding  ;  being  faith- 
ful eye-witnesses  of  those  things  which  others  re- 
ceive but  in  trust,  whereunto  they  must  yield  an 
intuitive  consent,  and  a  kind  of  implicit  faith." 

It  is  certainly  not  Howell's  page  that  mirrors 
forth  the  prig. 

The  "  Familiar  Letters  "  stand  in  little  need  of 
erudite  notes.  The  incidents  they  relate,  the  people 
they  describe,  are  for  the  most  part  well  known, 
or,  at  least,  easy  to  know.  The  fantastic  stories 
had  best  be  taken  as  they  stand.  The  dim  quota- 
tions fade  from  our  memories.  The  characteristic 
quality  of  the  letters  is  their  readability,  and  to 
the  reader  — as  apart  from  the  student  —  Howell 
is  sufficient  for  himself.  Many  of  his  pages  are 
dated  from  the  Fleet,  when  the  high  hopes  of 
youth  lie  dead,  when  the  keenness  of  the  observant 
traveller  is  dimmed,  and  his  grossness  purged  by 
fire.  He  measures  levelly  his  loss  and  gain,  and 
accepts  both  with  a  half  whimsical  philosophy  which 
is  not  too  lofty  to  be  loved.  It  is  after  three  years 
of  captivity  that  he  writes  thus  to  Philip  Warwick: 

"  I  have  been  so  habituate  to  this  prison,  and 
accustomed  to  the  walls  thereof  so  long,  that  I  might 
well  be  brought  to  think  that  there  is  no  other 
world  behind  them.  And  in  my  extravagant  im- 
aginations, I  often  compare  this  Fleet  to  Noah's 
Ark,  surrounded  with  a  vast  sea,  and  huge  deluge 
of  calamities  which  hath  overwhelm'd  this  poor 
island.    Nor,  altho'   I  have  been  so  long  aboard 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION 

here,  was  I  yet  under  hatches,  for  I  have  a  cabin 
upon  the  upper  deck,  whence  I  breathe  the  best  air 
the  place  affords ;  add  hereunto  that  the  society 
of  Master  Hopkins  the  Warden  is  an  advantage  to 
me,  who  is  one  of  the  knowingest  and  most  civil 
gentlemen  that  I  have  conversed  withal.  Moreover, 
there  are  here  some  choice  gentlemen  who  are  my 
co-martyrs ;  for  a  prisoner  and  a  martyr  are  the 
same  thing,  save  that  the  one  is  buried  before  his 
death,  and  the  other  after." 

Perhaps  a  sweet  reasonableness  of  character  is 
the  quality  which,  above  all  others,  holds  our  hearts 
in  keeping  ;  and  so  the  "  Familiar  Letters  "  are 
sure  of  their  remote  corner  on  the  book-shelf,  and 
the  gods  —  not  always  unresponsive  —  have  given 
to  James  Howell  the  coveted  boon  of  being  from 
generation  to  generation  his  reader's  friend. 

AGNES  REPPLIER. 


THE  VOTE,  OR  A  POEM-ROYAL 

PRESENTED  TO 

HIS    MAJESTY    FOR    A     NEW     YEAr's     GIFT,     BY    WAY 

OF   DISCOURSE   BETWIXT  THE   POET 

AND  HIS  MUSE 

Calendis    'Januarii    1 6^1 

POEMA 

THE  world's  bright  eye,  Time's  measurer,  begun 
Through  watery  Capricorn  his  course  to  run, 
Old  Janus  hastened  on,  his  temples  bound 
With  Ivy,  his  grey  hairs  with  holly  crowned ; 
When  in  a  serious  quest  my  thoughts  did  muse 
What  gift,  as  best  becoming,  I  should  choose 
To  Britain's  monarch  (my  dread  sovereign)  bring, 
Which  might  supply  a  New  Year's  offering. 
I  rummaged  all  my  stores,  and  searched  my  cells 
Where  nought  appeared,  God  wot,  but  bagatelles; 
No  far-fetched  Indian  gem  cut  out  of  rock, 
Or  fished  in  shells,  were  trusted  under  lock, 
No  piece  which  Angelo's  strong  fancy  hit. 
Or  Titian's  pencil,  or  rare  Hillyard's  wit, 
No  ermines,  or  black  sables,  no  such  skins 
As  the  grim  Tartar  hunts  or  takes  in  gins  ; 
No  medals,  or  rich  stuff  of  Tyrian  dye. 
No  costly  bowls  of  frosted  argentry. 


xxvi   THE  VOTE,  OR  A  POEM-ROYAL 

No  curious  landscape,  or  some  marble  piece 
Digged  up  in  Delphos,  or  elsewhere  in  Greece  ; 
No  Roman  perfumes,  buffs,  or  cordovans 
Made  drunk  with  amber  by  Moreno's  hands. 
No  arras  or  rich  carpets  freighted  o'er 
The  surging  seas  from  Asia's  doubtful  shore, 
No  lion's  cub  or  beast  of  strange  aspect. 
Which  in  Numidia's  fiery  womb  had  slept. 
No  old  Toledo  blades,  or  Damaskins, 
No  pistols,  or  some  rare-spring  carabines, 
No  Spanish  ginet  or  choice  stallion  sent 
From  Naples  or  hot  Afric's  continent. 

In  fine,  I  nothing  found  I  could  descry 
Worthy  the  hands  of  Caesar  or  his  eye. 

My  wits  were  at  a  stand,  when  lo  !  my  muse 
(None  of  the  choir,  but  such  as  they  do  use 
For  laundresses  or  handmaids  of  mean  rank 
I  knew  sometimes  on  Po  and  Isis'  bank) 
Did  softly  buz. 

Muse 
Then  let  me  something  bring, 


May  handsel  the  New  Year  to  Charles,  my  king. 
May  usher  in  bifronted  Janus 

Poet 

Thou  fond,  foolhardy  Muse,  thou  silly  thing. 
Which  'mongst  the  shrubs  and  reeds  dost  use  to  sing, 
Dar'st  thou  perk  up,  and  the  tall  cedar  climb. 
And  venture  on  a  king  with  jingling  rhyme  ? 
Though  all  thy  words  were  pearls,  thy  letters  gold. 
And  cut  in  rubies,  or  cast  in  a  mould 
Of  diamonds,  yet  still  thy  lines  would  be 
Too  mean  a  gift  for  such  a  majesty. 


THE  VOTE,  OR  A  POEM-ROYAL    xxvii 

Muse 
I  '11  try,  and  hope  to  pass  without  disdain, 
In  New  Year's  gifts  the  mind  stands  for  the  main. 
The  Sophy,  finding  't  was  well  meant,  did  deign 
Few  drops  of  running  water  from  a  swain, 
Then  sure  't  will  please  my  liege  if  I  him  bring 
Some  gentle  drops  from  the  Castalian  spring ; 
Though  rareties  I  want  of  such  account. 
Yet  have  I  something  on  the  forked  mount, 
'T  is  not  the  first  or  third  access  I  made 
To  Caesar's  feet,  and  thence  departed  glad. 
For  as  the  sun  with  his  male  heat  doth  render 
Nile's  muddy  slime  fruitful,  and  apt  t'  engender. 
And  daily  to  produce  new  kind  of  creatures 
Of  various  shapes  and  thousand  differing  features. 
So  is  my  fancy  quickened  by  the  glance 
Of  his  benign  aspect  and  countenance. 
It  makes  me  pregnant,  and  to  superfete 
Such  is  the  vigour  of  his  beams  and  heat. 
Once  in  a  vocal  forest  I  did  sing, 
And  made  the  oak  to  stand  for  Charles  my  King: 
The  best  of  trees,  whereof  (it  is  no  vaunt) 
The  greatest  schools  of  Europe  sing  and  chant : 
There  you  shall  also  find  Dame  Arhetine,' 
Great  Henry's  daughter,  and  Great  Britain's  queen. 
Her  name  engraven  in  a  laurel  tree. 
And  so  transmitted  to  eternity. 
For  now  I  hear  that  Grove  speaks  besides  mine. 
The  language  of  the  Loire,  the  Po,  and  Rhine 
(And  to  my  Prince  (my  sweet  Black  Prince)  of  late, 
I  did  a  youthful  subject  dedicate), 
Nor  do  I  doubt  but  that  in  time  my  trees 
Will  yield  me  fruit  to  pay  Apollo's  fees 
To  offer  up  whole  hecatombs  of  praise 


xxviii  THE  VOTE,  OR  A  POEM-ROYAL 

To  Caesar,  if  on  them  he  cast  his  rays, 
And  if  my  lamp  have  oil,  I  may  compile 
The  modern  annals  of  great  Albion's  isle. 
To  vindicate  the  truth  of  Charles  his  reign, 
From  scribbling  pamphleteers  who  story  stain 
With  loose  imperfect  passages,  and  thrust 
Lame  things  upon  the  world,  ta'en  up  in  trust. 

I  have  had  audience  (in  another  strain) 
Of  Europe's  greatest  kings,  when  German  main 
And  the  Cantabrian  waves  I  crossed,  I  drank 
Of  Tagus,  Seine,  and  sat  at  Tiber's  bank. 
Through  Scylla  and  Charybdis  I  have  steered, 
Where  restless  ^Etna's  belching  flames  appeared. 
By  Greece,  once  Pallas'  garden,  then  I  pass'd. 
Now  all  o'er-spread  with  ignorance  and  waste, 
Nor  hath  fair  Europe  her  vast  bounds  throughout. 
An  academy  of  note  I  found  not  out. 

But  now  I  hope  in  a  successful  prore. 
The  Fates  have  fixed  me  on  sweet  England's  shore, 
And  by  these  various  wanderings  true  I  found. 
Earth  is  our  common  Mother,  every  ground 
May  be  one's  country,  for  by  birth  each  man 
Is  in  this  world  a  cosmopolitan, 
A  free-born  burgess,  and  receives  thereby 
His  denization  from  nativity. 
Nor  is  this  lower  world  but  a  huge  inn. 
And  men  the  rambling  passengers,  wherein 
Some  do  warm  lodgings  find,  and  that  as  soon 
As  out  of  nature's  closets  they  see  noon. 
And  find  the  table  ready  laid  ;  but  some 
Must  for  their  commons  trot  and  trudge  for  room. 
With  easy  pace  some  climb  Promotion's  Hill, 
Some  in  the  dale,  do  what  they  can,  stick  still ; 
Some  through  false  glasses  Fortune  smiling  spy. 


THE  VOTE,  OR  A  POEM-ROYAL     xxix 

"Who  still  keeps  off,  though  she  appears  hard  by  : 

Some  like  the  ostrich  with  her  wings  do  flutter, 

But  cannot  fly  or  soar  above  the  gutter. 

Some  quickly  fetch,  and  double  Good  Hope's  Cape, 

Some  ne'er  can  do  't  though  the  same  course  they  shape. 

So  that  poor  mortals  are  so  many  balls 

Tossed  some  o'er  line,  some  under  fortune's  walls. 

And  it  is  heaven's  high  pleasure  man  should  lie 
Obnoxious  to  his  partiality. 
That  by  industrious  ways  he  should  contend 
Nature's  short  pittance  to  improve  and  mend ; 
Now,  industry  never  failed,  at  last  to  advance 
Her  patient  sons  above  the  reach  of  chance. 

Poet 
But  whither  rov'st  thou  thus ? 


Well ;  since  I  see  thou  art  so  strongly  bent, 
And  of  a  gracious  look  so  confident, 
Go,  and  throw  down  thyself  at  Caesar's  feet, 
And  in  thy  best  attire  thy  sovereign  greet. 
Go,  an  auspicious  and  most  blessful  year 
Wish  him,  as  e'er  shined  o'er  this  hemisphere. 
Good  may  the  entrance,  better  the  middle  be, 
And  the  conclusion  best  of  all  the  three; 
Of  joy  ungrudged  may  each  day  be  a  debtor, 
And  every  morn  still  usher  in  a  better, 
May  the  soft  gliding  Nones  and  every  Ide, 
With  all  the  Calends  still  some  good  betide. 
May  Cynthia  with  kind  looks,  and  Phoebus'  rays. 
One  clear  his  nights,  the  other  gild  his  days. 
Free  limbs,  unphysicked  health,  due  appetite. 
Which  no  sauce  else  but  hunger  may  excite, 
Sound  sleeps,  green  dreams  be  his,  which  represent 
Symptoms  of  health,  and  the  next  day's  content  j 


XXX     THE  VOTE,  OR  A  POEM-ROYAL 

Cheerful  and  vacant  thoughts,  not  always  bound 
Xo  counsel,  or  in  deep  ideas  drowned 
(Though  such  late  traverses,  and  tumults  might 
Turn  to  a  lump  of  care,  the  airiest  wight)  : 
And  since  while  fragile  flesh  doth  us  array, 
The  humours  still  are  combating  for  sway 
(Which  were  they  free  from  this  reluctancy 
And  counterpoised,  man  would  immortal  be), 
May  sanguine  o'er  the  rest  predominate 
In  him,  and  their  malignant  flux  abate. 

May  his  great  queen,  in  whose  imperious  eye 
Reigns  such  a  world  of  winning  majesty. 
Like  the  rich  olive  or  Falernian  vine 
Swell  with  more  gems  of  Scions  masculine ; 
And  as  her  fruit  sprung  from  the  rose  and  luce 
(The  best  of  stems  earth  yet  did  e'er  produce) 
Is  tied  already  by  a  sanguine  lace 
To  all  the  kings  of  Europe's  high-born  race, 
So  may  they  shoot  their  youthful  branches  o'er 
The  surging  seas  ;  and  graff  with  every  shore. 

May  home  commerce  and  trade  increase  from  far. 
Till  both  the  Indies  meet  within  his  bar, 
And  bring  in  mounts  of  coin  his  mints  to  feed, 
And  bankers  (traffic's  chief  supporters)  breed, 
Which  may  enrich  his  kingdoms,  court  and  town, 
And  ballast  still  the  cofFers  of  the  crown. 
For  kingdoms  are  as  ships,  the  prince  his  chests 
The  ballast,  which  if  empty,  when  distress't 
With  storms,  their  holds  are  lightly  trimmed  the  keel 
Can  run  no  steady  course,  but  toss  and  reel ; 
May  his  imperial  Chamber  always  ply 
To  his  desires  her  wealth  to  multiply, 
That  she  may  praise  his  royal  favour  more 
Than  all  the  wares  fetched  from  the  great  Mogor, 


THE  VOTE,  OR  A  POEM-ROYAL    xxxi 

May  the  Grand  Senate,^  with  the  subject's  right, 

Put  in  the  counter-scale  the  regal  might, 

The  flowers  o'  the  crown,  that  they  may  prop  each  other. 

And  like  the  Grecian's  twin,  live,  love  together. 

For  the  chief  glory  of  a  people  is. 

The  power  of  their  king,  as  their's  is  his  ; 

May  he  be  still  within  himself  at  home. 

That  no  just  passion  make  the  reason  roam. 

Yet  passions  have  their  turns  to  rouse  the  soul, 

And  stir  her  slumbering  spirits,  not  control ; 

For  as  the  ocean  besides  ebb  and  flood 

(^Which  Nature's  greatest  clerk  3  ne'er  understood) 

Is  not  for  sail,  if  an  impregning  wind 

Fill  not  the  flagging  canvas,  so  a  mind 

Too  calm  is  not  for  action,  if  desire 

Heats  not  itself  at  passion's  quickening  fire. 

For  Nature  is  allowed  sometimes  to  muster 

Her  passions,  so  they  only  blow,  not  bluster. 

May  Justice  still  in  her  true  scales  appear. 
And  honour  fixed  in  no  unworthy  sphere. 
Unto  whose  palace  all  access  should  have 
Through  virtue's  temple,  not  through  Pluto's  cave. 

May  his  true  subjects'  hearts  be  his  chief  fort. 
Their  purse  his  treasure  and  their  love  his  port, 
Their  prayers  as  sweet  incense,  to  draw  down 
Myriads  of  blessings  on  his  queen  and  crown. 

And  now  that  his  glad  presence  did  assuage 
That  fearful  tempest  in  the  north  did  rage. 
May  those  frog  vapours  in  the  Irish  sky 
Be  scattered  by  the  beams  of  majesty. 
That  the  Hibernian  lyre  give  such  a  sound, 
May  on  our  coasts  with  joyful  echoes  bound. 

And  when  this  fatal  planet  leaves  to  lower 
Which  too,  too  long  on  monarchies  doth  pour 


xxxii    THE  VOTE,  OR  A  POEM-ROYAL 

His  direful  influence,  may  peace  once  more 

Descend  from  heaven  on  our  tottering  shore, 

And  ride  in  triumph  both  on  land  and  main. 

And  with  her  milk-white  steeds  draw  Charles  his  wain. 

That  so,  for  those  Saturnian  times  of  old. 

An  age  of  pearl  may  come  in  lieu  of  gold. 

Virtue  still  guide  his  course,  and  if  there  be 
A  thing,  as  fortune,  him  accompany. 
May  no  ill  genius  haunt  him,  but  by  's  side, 
The  best  protecting  angel  ever  bide. 

May  he  go  on  to  vindicate  the  right 
Of  holy  things,  and  make  the  temple  bright, 
To  keep  that  faith,  that  sacred  truth  entire. 
Which  he  received  from  Solomon  ■♦  his  sire. 

And  since  we  all  must  hence,  by  th'  iron  decree 
Stamped  in  the  black  records  of  destiny. 
Late  may  his  life,  his  glory  ne'er  wear  out. 
Till  the  great  year  of  Plato  wheel  about. 
So  prayeth 
The  worst  of  poets 

to 
The  best  of  princes, 

yet 
The  most  loyal  of 

his 
Votaries  and  vassals, 

James  Howell. 

Comment. 

*  Arhentine,  id  est  "virtuous.     Anagram  of  Henrietta. 

*  The  Parliament.  '  Hippocrates. 

*  King  James. 


TO    THE    KNOWING    READER 

TOUCHING 

FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

LOVE  is  the  life  of  friendship,  letters  are 
The  life  of  love,  the  loadstones  that  by  rare 
Attraction  make  souls  meet,  and  melt  and  mix. 
As  when  by  fire  exalted  gold  we  fix. 
They  are  those  winged  postillions  that  can  fly 
From  the  Antarctic  to  the  Arctic  sky. 
The  heralds  and  swift  harbingers  that  move 
From  east  to  west  on  embassies  of  love; 
They  can  the  tropics  cut  and  cross  the  line, 
And  swim  from  Ganges  to  the  Rhone  or  Rhine, 
From  Thames  to  Tagus,  thence  to  Tiber  run, 
And  terminate  their  journey  with  the  sun  : 

They  can  the  cabinets  of  kings  unscrew, 
And  hardest  intricacies  of  State  unclew  ; 
They  can  the  Tartar  tell  what  the  Mogor, 
Or  the  Great  Turk  doth  on  the  Asian  shore. 
The  Knez  of  them  may  know  what  Prester  John 
Doth  with  his  camels  in  the  torrid  zone: 
Which  made  the  Indian  Inca  think  they  were 
Spirits  who  in  white  sheets  the  air  did  tear. 

The  lucky  goose  saved  Jove's  beleaguered  hill, 
Once  by  her  noise,  but  oftener  by  her  quill. 
It  twice  prevented  Rome  was  not  o'errun 
By  the  tough  Vandal  and  the  rough-hewn  Hun. 

Letters  can  plots  though  mouldered  under  ground 


xxxiv  TO    THE    READER 

Disclose,  and  their  fell  complices  confound  ; 
Witness  that  fiery  pile  which  would  have  blown 
Up  to  the  clouds,  prince,  people,  peers,  and  town. 
Tribunals,  church,  and  chapel,  and  had  dried 
The  Thames,  though  swelling  in  her  highest  pride. 
And  parboiled  the  poor  fish,  which  from  her  sands 
Had  been  tossed  up  to  the  adjoining  lands. 
Lawyers  as  vultures  had  soared  up  and  down. 
Prelates  like  magpies  in  the  air  had  flown, 
Had  not  the  eagle's  letter  brought  to  light 
That  subterranean  horrid  work  of  night. 

Credential  letters,  states,  and  kingdoms  tie, 
And  monarchs  knit  in  league  of  amity  ; 
They  are  those  golden  links  that  do  enchain 
Whole  nations  though  discinded  by  the  main  ; 
They  are  the  soul  of  trade,  they  make  commerce 
Expand  itself  throughout  the  universe. 

Letters  may  more  than  history  enclose 
The  choicest  learning  both  in  verse  and  prose; 
They  knowledge  can  unto  our  souls  display, 
By  a  more  gentle  and  familiar  way. 
The  highest  points  of  state  and  policy. 
The  most  severe  parts  of  philosophy 
May  be  their  subject,  and  their  themes  enrich. 
As  well  as  private  businesses,  in  which 
Friends  use  to  correspond  and  kindred  greet. 
Merchants  negotiate,  the  whole  world  meet. 

In  Seneca's  rich  letters  is  enshrined 
Whate'er  the  ancient  sages  left  behind. 
Tully  makes  his  the  secret  symptoms  tell 
Of  those  distempers  which  proud  Rome  befelU 
When  in  her  highest  flourish  she  would  make 
Her  Tiber  from  the  Ocean  homage  take. 


TO    THE    READER  xxxv 

Great  Antonine  the  emperor  did  gain 
More  glory  by  his  letters  than  his  reign. 
His  pen  outlasts  his  pike,  each  golden  line 
In  his  epistles  doth  his  name  enshrine. 
Aurelius  by  his  letters  did  the  same, 
And  they  in  chief  immortalise  his  fame. 

Words  vanish  soon,  and  vapour  into  air, 
While  letters  on  record  stand  fresh  and  fair, 
And  tell  our  nephews  who  to  us  were  dear. 
Who  our  choice  friends,  who  our  familiars  were. 
The  bashful  lover  when  his  stammenng  lips 
Falter,  and  fear  some  unadvised  slips. 
May  boldly  court  his  mistress  with  the  quill. 
And  his  hot  passions  to  her  breast  enstil; 
The  pen  can  furrow  a  fond  female's  heart, 
And  pierce  it  more  than  Cupid's  feigned  dart. 
Letters  a  kind  of  magic  virtue  have. 
And  like  strong  philtres  human  souls  enslave. 

Speech  is  the  index,  letters  ideas  are 
Of  the  informing  soul ;  they  can  declare. 
And  show  the  inward  man,  as  we  behold 
A  face  reflecting  in  a  crystal  mould : 
They  serve  the  dead  and  living,  they  become 
Attorneys  and  administers  in  some. 

Letters  like  Gordian  knots  do  nations  tie. 

Else  all  commerce  and  love  'twixt  men  would  diCc 

J.H. 


TO    HIS    MAJESTY 

THESE  letters,  addressed  (most  of  them)  to 
your  best  degrees  of  subjects,  do,  as  so  many 
lines  drawn  from  the  circumference  to  the  centre, 
all  meet  in  your  Majesty,  who,  as  the  law  styles 
you  the  fountain  of  honour  and  grace,  so  you 
should  be  the  centre  of  our  happiness.  If  your 
Majesty  vouchsafe  them  a  gracious  aspect,  they 
may  all  prove  letters  of  credit,  if  not  credential  let- 
ters, which  sovereign  princes  use  only  to  author- 
ise. They  venture  to  go  abroad  into  the  vast  ocean 
of  the  world,  as  letters  of  mart,  to  try  their  for- 
tunes ;  and  your  Majesty  being  the  greatest  lord 
of  sea  under  heaven,  is  fittest  to  protect  them,  and 
then  they  will  not  fear  any  human  power.  More- 
over, as  this  royal  protection  secures  them  from  all 
danger,  so  it  will  infinitely  conduce  to  the  pros- 
perity of  their  voyage,  and  bring  them  to  safe  port 
with  rich  returns. 

Nor  would  these  letters  be  so  familiar  as  to 
presume  upon  so  high  a  patronage,  were  not  many 
of  them  records  of  your  own  royal  actions  ;  and 
it  is  well  known  that  letters  can  treasure  up  and 
transmit  matters  of  State  to  posterity,  with  as  much 
faith,  and  be  as  authentic  registers  and  safe  reposi- 
tories of  truth,  as  any  story  whatsoever. 

This  brings  them  to  lie  all  prostrate  at  your  feet 
with  their  author,  who  is,  sir,  your  Majesty's  most 
loyal  subject  and  servant,  HOWELL. 


EPISTOL^    HO-ELIAN^ 
SECTION   I 


BOOK  I 

SECTION    I 

I 

To  Sir  y.  S.,  at  Leeds  Castle 

IT  was  a  quaint  difference  the  ancients  did  put 
betwixt  a  letter  and  an  oration,  that  the  one 
should  be  attired  like  a  woman,  the  other  like  a 
man.  The  latter  of  the  two  is  allowed  large  side 
robes,  as  long  periods,  parentheses,  similes,  ex- 
amples, and  other  parts  of  rhetorical  flourishes  : 
but  a  letter  or  epistle  should  be  short-coated,  and 
closely  couched  ;  a  hungerlin  becomes  a  letter  more 
handsomely  than  a  gown.  Indeed  we  should  write 
as  we  speak,  and  that 's  a  true  familiar  letter  which 
expresseth  one's  mind,  as  if  he  were  discoursing 
with  the  party  to  whom  he  writes  in  succinct  and 
short  terms.  The  tongue  and  the  pen  are  both  of 
them  interpreters  of  the  mind,  but  I  hold  the  pen 
to  be  the  more  faithful  of  the  two.  The  tongue  in 
udo  posita^  being  seated  in  a  moist  slippery  place, 
may  fail  and  falter  in  her  sudden  extemporal  ex- 
pressions ;  but  the  pen,  having  a  greater  advantage 
of  premeditation,  is  not  so  subject  to  error,  and 
leaves  things  behind  it  upon  firm  and  authentic 
record.    Now,  letters,  though  they  be  capable  of 


4  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

any  subjectj  yet  commonly  they  are  either  narra- 
tory,  objurgatory,  consolatory,  monitory,  or  con- 
gratulatory. The  first  consists  of  relations,  the 
second  of  reprehensions,  the  third  of  comfort,  the 
last  two  of  counsel  and  joy;  there  are  some  who 
in  lieu  of  letters  write  homilies,  they  preach  when 
they  should  epistoHse  ;  there  are  others  that  turn 
them  to  tedious  tractates ;  this  is  to  make  letters 
degenerate  from  their  true  nature.  Some  modern 
authors  there  are  who  have  exposed  their  letters  to 
the  world,  but  most  of  them,  I  mean  among  your 
Latin  epistolisers,go  freighted  with  mere  Bartholo- 
mew ware,  with  trite  and  trivial  phrases  only,  listed 
with  pedantic  shreds  of  schoolboy  verses.  Others 
there  are  among  our  next  transmarine  neighbours 
eastward,  who  write  in  their  own  language,  but  their 
style  is  so  soft  and  easy  that  their  letters  may  be 
said  to  be  like  bodies  of  loose  flesh  without  sinews, 
they  have  neither  joints  of  art  nor  arteries  in  them  ; 
they  have  a  kind  of  simpering  and  lank  hectic 
expressions  made  up  of  a  bombast  of  words  and 
finical  affected  compliments  only.  I  cannot  well 
away  with  such  sleazy  stuff,  with  such  cobweb  com- 
positions, where  there  is  no  strength  of  matter, 
nothing  for  the  reader  to  carry  away  with  him,  that 
may  enlarge  the  notions  of  his  soul.  One  shall 
hardly  find  an  apothegm,  example,  simile,  or  any- 
thing of  philosophy,  history,  or  solid  knowledge, 
or  as  much  as  one  new  created  phrase,  in  a  hun- 
dred of  them ;  and  to  draw  any  observations  out 
of  them  were  as  if  one  went  about  to  distil  cream 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  5 

out  of  froth  ;  insomuch  that  it  may  be  said  of  them, 
what  was  said  of  the  echo,  "  That  she  is  a  mere 
sound,  and  nothing  else." 

I  return  you  your  Balzac  by  this  bearer,  and 
when  I  found  those  letters,  wherein  he  is  so  famil- 
iar with  his  king,  so  flat,  and  those  to  Richelieu,  so 
puffed  with  profane  hyperboles,  and  larded  up  and 
down  with  such  gross  flatteries,  with  others  be- 
sides which  he  sends  as  urinals  up  and  down  the 
world  to  look  into  his  water  for  the  discovery  of 
the  crazy  condition  of  his  body,  I  forebore  him 
further.  —  So  I  am  your  most  affectionate  servitor, 

J.H. 

Westminster,  25  July  1625. 

II 

'7o  my  Father  upon  my  first  going  beyond  Sea 

I  SHOULD  be  much  wanting  to  myself,  and 
to  that  obligation  of  duty,  the  law  of  God,  and 
His  handmaid  Nature  hath  imposed  upon  me,  if 
I  should  not  acquaint  you  with  the  course  and 
quality  of  my  affairs  and  fortunes,  specially  at  this 
time,  that  I  am  upon  point  of  crossing  the  seas  to 
eat  my  bread  abroad.  Nor  is  it  the  common  rela- 
tion of  a  son  that  only  induced  me  hereunto,  but 
that  most  indulgent  and  costly  care  you  have  been 
pleased  (in  so  extraordinary  a  manner)  to  have  had 
of  my  breeding  (though  but  one  child  of  fifteen) 
by  placing  me  in  a  choice  methodical  school  (so 


6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

far  distant  from  your  dwelling)  under  a  learned 
(though  lashing)  master ;  and  by  transplanting  me 
thence  to  Oxford,  to  be  graduated ;  and  so  holding 
me  still  up  by  the  chin  until  I  could  swim  without 
bladders.  This  patrimony  of  liberal  education  you 
have  been  pleased  to  endow  me  withal,  I  now 
carry  along  with  me  abroad,  as  a  sure  inseparable 
treasure ;  nor  do  I  feel  it  any  burden  or  encum- 
brance unto  me  at  all.  And  what  danger  soever 
my  person  or  other  things  I  have  about  me,  do 
incur,  yet  I  do  not  fear  the  losing  of  this,  either 
by  shipwreck  or  pirates  at  sea,  nor  by  robbers,  or 
fire,  or  any  other  casualty  ashore  ;  and  at  my  re- 
turn to  England,  I  hope  at  leastwise  I  shall  do  my 
endeavour  that  you  may  find  this  patrimony  im- 
proved somewhat  to  your  comfort. 

The  main  of  my  employment  is  from  that  gal- 
lant knight.  Sir  Robert  Mansell,  who,  with  my 
Lord  of  Pembroke,  and  divers  other  of  the  prime 
Lords  of  the  Court,  have  got  the  sole  patent  of 
making  all  sorts  of  glass  with  pit-coal,  only  to 
save  those  huge  proportions  of  wood  which  were 
consumed  formerly  in  the  glass  furnaces  ;  and  this 
business  being  of  that  nature,  that  the  workmen 
are  to  be  had  from  Italy,  and  the  chief  materials 
from  Spain,  France  and  other  foreign  countries, 
there  is  need  of  an  agent  abroad  for  this  use  (and 
better  than  I  have  offered  their  service  in  this 
kind),  so  that  I  believe  I  shall  have  employment 
in  all  these  countries  before  I  return. 

Had  I  continued  still  steward  of  the  glass-house 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  7 

in  Broad  Street,  where  Captain  Francis  Bacon  hath 
succeeded  me,  I  should  in  a  short  time  have  melted 
away  to  nothing  amongst  those  hot  Venetians,  find- 
ing myself  too  green  for  such  a  charge  ;  therefore 
it  hath  pleased  God  to  dispose  of  me  now  to  a  condi- 
tion more  suitable  to  my  years,  and  that  will,  I  hope, 
prove  more  advantageous  to  my  future  fortunes. 

In  this  my  peregrination,  if  I  happen,  by  some 
accident,  to  be  disappointed  of  that  allowance  I 
am  to  subsist  by,  I  must  make  my  address  to  you, 
for  I  have  no  other  rendezvous  to  flee  unto  ;  but 
it  shall  not  be,  unless  in  case  of  great  indigence. 

Touching  the  news  of  the  time,  Sir  George 
Villiers,  the  new  favourite,  tapers  up  apace,  and 
grows  strong  at  Court.  His  predecessor,  the  Earl 
of  Somerset,  hath  got  a  lease  of  ninety  years  for 
his  life,  and  so  hath  his  articulate  lady,  called  so 
for  articling  against  the  frigidity  and  impotence  of 
her  former  lord.  She  was  afraid  that  Coke,  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice  (who  had  used  such  extraordinary 
art  and  industry  in  discovering  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  poisoning  of  Overbury)  would 
have  made  white  broth  of  them,  but  that  the  pre- 
rogative kept  them  from  the  pot;  yet  the  sub- 
servient instruments,  the  lesser  flies  could  not 
break  through,  but  lay  entangled  in  the  cobweb. 
Amongst  others.  Mistress  Turner,  the  first  inven- 
tress  of  yellow  starch,  was  executed  in  a  cobweb 
lawn  rufi^  of  that  colour  at  Tyburn,  and  with  her 
I  believe  that  yellow  starch,  which  so  much  dis- 
figured our  nation  and  rendered  them  so  ridicu- 


8  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

lous  and  fantastic,  will  receive  its  funeral.  Sir 
Gervas  Elwaies,  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  was 
made  a  notable  example  of  justice  and  terror  to 
all  officers  of  trust,  for  being  accessory,  and  that 
in  a  passive  way  only  to  the  murder,  yet  he  was 
hanged  on  Tower  Hill,  and  the  caveat  is  very 
remarkable  which  he  gave  upon  the  gallows,  that 
people  should  be  very  cautious  how  they  make 
vows  to  heaven,  for  the  breach  of  them  seldom 
passes  without  a  judgment,  whereof  he  was  a  most 
ruthful  example ;  for,  being  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, and  much  given  to  gaming,  he  once  made  a 
solemn  vow  (which  he  broke  afterwards)  that  if 
he  played  above  such  a  sum,  he  might  be  hanged. 
My  Lord  (William)  of  Pembroke  did  a  most 
noble  act  like  himself;  for  the  king,  having  given 
him  all  Sir  Gervas  Elwaies'  estate,  which  came  to 
above  ;^iooo  per  annum,  he  freely  bestowed  it 
on  the  widow  and  her  children. 

The  latter  end  of  this  week  I  am  to  go  a  ship- 
board, and  first  for  the  Low  Countries.  I  humbly 
pray  your  blessing  may  accompany  me  in  these 
my  travels  by  land  and  sea,  with  a  continuance 
of  your  prayers,  which  will  be  as  so  many  good 
gales  to  blow  me  to  safe  port ;  for  I  have  been 
taught  that  the  parents'  benedictions  contribute 
very  much,  and  have  a  kind  of  prophetic  virtue 
to  make  the  child  prosperous.  —  In  this  opinion 
I  shall  ever  rest,  your  dutiful  son,  J.  H. 

Broad  Street  in  London,  this 
I  of  March  1618. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  9 

III 

To  Dr  Francis   Mansell,  since  Principal  of 
yesus  College  in  Oxford 

BEING  to  take  leave  of  England,  and  to 
launch  out  into  the  world  abroad,  to  breathe 
foreign  air  a  while,  I  thought  it  very  handsome, 
and  an  act  well  becoming  me,  to  take  my  leave 
also  of  you  and  of  my  dearly  honoured  mother 
Oxford.  Otherwise  both  of  you  might  have  just 
grounds  to  exhibit  a  bill  of  complaint,  or  rather 
a  protest  against  me,  and  cry  me  up  ;  you  for  a 
forgetful  friend  ;  she,  for  an  ungrateful  son,  if  not 
some  spurious  issue.  To  prevent  this,  I  salute 
you  both  together:  you  with  the  best  of  my 
most  candid  affections ;  her,  with  my  most  duti- 
ful observance,  and  thankfulness  for  the  milk  she 
pleased  to  give  me  in  that  exuberance,  had  I 
taken  it  in  that  measure  she  offered  it  me  while 
I  slept  in  her  lap  ;  yet  that  little  I  have  sucked, 
I  carry  with  me  now  abroad,  and  hope  that  this 
course  of  life  will  help  to  concoct  it  to  a  greater 
advantage,  having  opportunity,  by  the  nature  of 
my  employment,  to  study  men  as  well  as  books. 
The  small  time  I  supervised  the  glass-house  I 
got  amongst  those  Venetians  some  smatterings 
of  the  Italian  tongue,  which,  besides  the  little  I 
have,  you  know,  of  school  languages,  is  all  the 
preparatives  I  have  made  for  travel.    I  am  to  go 


lo  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

this  week  down  to  Gravesend,  and  so  embark  for 
Holland.  I  have  got  a  warrant  from  the  Lords 
of  the  Council  to  travel  for  three  years  any- 
where, Rome  and  St  Omer  excepted.  I  pray  let 
me  retain  some  room,  though  never  so  little,  in 
your  thoughts,  during  the  time  of  this  our  separa- 
tion, and  let  our  souls  meet  sometimes  by  inter- 
course of  letters.  I  promise  you  that  yours  shall 
receive  the  best  entertainment  I  can  make  them, 
for  I  love  you  dearly,  dearly  well,  and  value  your 
friendship  at  a  very  high  rate.  —  So  with  appre- 
ciation of  as  much  happiness  to  you  at  home  as 
I  shall  desire  to  accompany  me  abroad,  I  rest  ever 
your  friend  to  serve  you, 

J.  H. 
London,  this  20  of  March  161 8. 

IV 

To  Sir  "James  Crofts,  Knight,  at  St  Osith 

I  COULD  not  shake  hands  with  England  with- 
out kissing  your  hands  also ;  and  because, 
in  regard  of  your  distance  now  from  London,  I 
cannot  do  it  in  person,  I  send  this  paper  for  my 
deputy. 

The  news  that  keeps  greatest  noise  here  now  is 
the  return  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  from  his  mine 
of  gold  in  Guiana,  the  South  parts  of  America, 
which  at  first  was  like  to  be  such  a  hopeful  boon 
voyage,  but  it  seems   that   that   golden  mine  is 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  ii 

proved  a  mere  chimera,  an  imaginary  airy  mine  ; 
and,  indeed.  His  Majesty  had  never  any  other 
conceit  of  it.  But  what  will  not  one  in  captivity, 
as  Sir  Walter  was,  promise,  to  regain  his  freedom  ? 
Who  would  not  promise  not  only  mines,  but  moun- 
tains of  gold,  for  liberty  ?  And  'tis  pity  such  a 
knowing,  well-weighed  knight  had  not  had  a  better 
fortune  ;  for  the  Destiny  ( I  mean  that  brave  ship 
which  he  built  himself  of  that  name,  that  carried 
him  thither  )  is  like  to  prove  a  fatal  destiny  to  him, 
and  to  some  of  the  rest  of  those  gallant  adventu- 
rers who  contributed  for  the  setting  forth  of  thir- 
teen ships  more,  who  were  most  of  them  his  kins- 
men and  younger  brothers,  being  led  into  the  said 
expedition  by  a  general  conceit  the  world  had  of 
the  wisdom  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  ;  and  many  of 
these  are  like  to  make  shipwreck  of  their  estates 
by  this  voyage.  Sir  Walter  landed  at  Plymouth, 
whence  he  thought  to  make  an  escape  ;  and  some 
say  he  hath  tampered  with  his  body  by  physic,  to 
make  him  look  sickly,  that  he  may  be  the  more 
pitied,  and  permitted  to  lie  in  his  own  house.  Count 
Gondamar,  the  Spanish  Ambassador,  speaks  high 
language,  and,  sending  lately  to  desire  audience  of 
His  Majesty,  he  said  he  had  but  one  word  to  tell 
him,  His  Majesty  wondering  what  might  be  de- 
livered in  one  word  ;  when  he  came  before  him,  he 
said  only,  "Pirates,  Pirates,  Pirates,"  and  so  de- 
parted. 

'T  is  true  that  he  protested  against  this  voyage 
before,  and  that  it  could  not  be  but  for  some  pre- 


12  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

datory  design  ;  and  that  if  it  be  as  I  hear,  I  fear  it 
will  go  very  ill  with  Sir  Walter,  and  that  Gonda- 
mar  will  never  give  him  over  till  he  hath  his  head 
off  his  shoulders,  which  may  quickly  be  done, 
without  any  new  arraignment,  by  virtue  of  the 
old  sentence  that  lies  still  dormant  against  him, 
which  he  could  never  get  off  by  pardon,  notwith- 
standing that  he  mainly  laboured  in  it  before  he 
went;  but  His  Majesty  could  never  be  brought 
to  it,  for  he  said  he  would  keep  this  as  a  curb  to 
hold  him  within  the  bounds  of  his  commission, 
and  the  good  behaviour. 

Gondamar  cries  out  that  he  hath  broke  the 
sacred  peace  betwixt  the  two  kingdoms,  that  he 
hath  fired  and  plundered  Santo  Thoma,  a  colony 
the  Spaniards  had  planted  with  so  much  blood, 
near  under  the  line,  which  made  it  prove  such 
hot  service  unto  him,  and  where,  besides  others, 
he  lost  his  eldest  son  in  the  action  ;  and  could 
they  have  preserved  the  magazine  of  tobacco  only, 
besides  other  things  in  that  town,  something  might 
have  been  had  to  countervail  the  charge  of  the 
voyage.  Gondamar  allegeth  further  that,  the  en- 
terprise of  the  mine  failing,  he  propounded  to  the 
rest  of  his  fleet  to  go  and  intercept  some  of  the 
Plate-galleons,  with  other  designs  which  would 
have  drawn  after  them  apparent  acts  of  hostility, 
and  so  demands  justice;  besides  other  disasters 
which  fell  out  upon  the  dashing  of  the  first  design. 
Captain  Remish,  who  was  the  main  instrument  for 
discovery  of  the  mine,  pistolled  himself  in  a  des- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  13 

perate  mood  of  discontent  in  his  cabin,  in  the  Con- 
vertine. 

This  return  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  from  Guiana 
puts  me  in  mind  of  a  facetious  tale  I  read  lately 
in  Italian  (for  I  have  a  little  of  that  language 
already),  how  Alfonso,  King  of  Naples,  sent  a 
Moor,  who  had  been  his  captive  a  long  time,  to 
Barbary,  with  a  considerable  sum  of  money  to  buy 
horses,  and  to  return  by  such  a  time.  Now  there 
was  about  the  king  a  kind  of  buffoon  or  jester  who 
had  a  table-book  or  journal,  wherein  he  was  used 
to  register  any  absurdity,  or  impertinence,  or  merry 
passage  that  happened  upon  the  Court.  That  day 
the  Moor  was  dispatched  for  Barbary,  the  said 
jester  waiting  upon  the  king  at  supper,  the  king 
called  for  his  journal,  and  asked  what  he  had  ob- 
served that  day  ;  thereupon,  the  jester  produced 
his  table-book,  and,  amongst  other  things,  he  read 
how  Alfonso,  King  of  Naples,  had  sent  Beltram 
the  Moor,  who  had  been  a  long  time  his  prisoner, 
to  Morocco  (his  own  country)  with  so  many  thou- 
sand crowns  to  buv  horses.  The  king  asked  him 
why  he  inserted  that.  "  Because,"  said  he,  "  I 
think  he  will  never  come  back  to  be  a  prisoner 
again,  and  so  you  have  lost  both  man  and  money. 
But,  if  he  do  come,  then  your  jest  is  marred." 
Quoth  the  king,  "  No,  sir  ;  for  if  he  return  I  will 
blot  out  your  name,  and  put  him  in  for  a  fool." 

The  application  is  easy  and  obvious  ;  but  the 
world  wonders  extremely  that  so  great  a  wise  man 
as  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  would  return  to  cast  him- 


14  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

self  upon  so  inevitable  a  rock,  as  I  fear  he  will  ; 
and  much  more,  that  such  choice  men  and  so  great 
a  power  of  ships  should  all  come  home  and  do 
nothing. 

The  letter  you  sent  to  my  father  I  conveyed 
safely  the  last  week  to  Wales.  I  am  this  week, 
by  God's  help,  for  the  Netherlands,  and  then,  I 
think,  for  France.  If  in  this,  my  foreign  employ- 
ment, I  may  be  any  way  serviceable  unto  you,  you 
know  what  power  you  have  to  dispose  of  me,  for 
I  honour  you  in  a  very  high  degree,  and  will  live 
and  die,  your  humble  and  ready  servant, 

J.  H. 

London,  28  of  March  161 8  [9]. 

V 

To  my  Brother,  after  Dr  Howell,  and  now  Bishop 
of  Bristol ;  from  Amsterdam 

Brother, 

I  AM  newly  landed  at  Amsterdam,  and  it  is  the 
first  foreign  earth  I  ever  set  foot  upon.  I  was 
pitifully  sick  all  the  voyage,  for  the  weather  was 
rough  and  the  wind  untoward,  and  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Texel  we  were  surprised  by  a  furious  tem- 
pest, so  that  the  ship  was  like  to  split  upon  some 
of  those  old  stumps  of  trees  wherewith  that  river  is 
full ;  for  in  ages  past,  as  the  skipper  told  me,  there 
grew  a  fair  forest  in  that  channel  where  the  Texel 
makes  now  her  bed.   Having  been  so  rocked  and 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  15 

shaken  at  sea,  when  I  came  ashore,  I  began  to  in- 
cline to  Copernicus  his  opinion,  which  has  got  such 
a  sway  lately  in  the  world,  viz.,  that  the  earth,  as 
well  as  the  rest  of  her  fellow-elements,  is  in  per- 
petual motion,  for  she  seemed  so  to  me  a  good 
while  after  I  had  landed.  He  that  observes  the 
site  and  position  of  this  country  will  never  here- 
after doubt  the  truth  of  that  philosophical  problem 
which  keeps  so  great  a  noise  in  the  schools,  viz., 
that  the  sea  is  higher  than  the  earth  ;  because, 
as  I  sailed  along  these  coasts,  I  visibly  found 
it  true  ;  for  the  ground  here,  which  is  all  'twixt 
marsh  and  moorish,  lies  not  only  level,  but  to  the 
apparent  sight  of  the  eye,  far  lower  than  the  sea  ; 
which  made  the  Duke  of  Alva  say  that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  country  were  the  nearest  neighbours  to 
hell  (the  great  abyss)  of  any  people  upon  earth, 
because  they  dwell  lowest.  Most  of  that  ground 
they  tread  is  plucked,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  very 
jaws  of  Neptune,  who  is  afterwards  pent  out  by 
high  dykes,  which  are  preserved  with  incredible 
charge,  insomuch,  that  the  chief  Dyke-grave  here 
is  one  of  the  greatest  officers  of  trust  in  all  the 
province,  it  being  in  his  power  to  turn  the  whole 
country  into  a  salt  loch  when  he  list,  and  so  to  put 
Hans  to  swim  for  his  life,  which  makes  it  to  be 
one  of  the  chiefest  parts  of  his  litany.  From  the 
sea,  the  Spaniard,  and  the  devil,  the  Lord  deliver 
me.  I  need  not  tell  you  who  preserves  him  from 
the  last,  but  from  the  Spaniard  his  best  friend  is  the 
sea  itself,  notwithstanding  that  he  fears  him  as  an 


i6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

enemy  another  way  :  for  the  sea,  stretching  him- 
self here  into  divers  arms,  and  meeting  with  some 
of  those  fresh  rivers  that  descend  from  Germany 
to  disgorge  themselves  into  him  through  these 
provinces,  most  of  their  towns  are  thereby  incom- 
passed  with  water,  which  by  sluices  they  can  con- 
tract or  dilate  as  they  list.  This  makes  their  towns 
inaccessible  and  out  of  the  reach  of  cannon  ;  so 
that  water  may  be  said  to  be  one  of  their  best 
fences,  otherwise  I  believe  they  had  not  been  able 
to  have  borne  up  so  long  against  the  gigantic  power 
of  Spain. 

This  city  of  Amsterdam,  though  she  be  a  great 
staple  of  news,  yet  I  can  impart  none  unto  you  at 
this  time,  I  will  defer  that  till  I  come  to  the  Hague. 

I  am  lodged  here  at  one  Monsieur  De  la  Cluze, 
not  far  from  the  Exchange,  to  make  an  introduc- 
tion into  the  French  ;  because  I  believe  I  shall 
steer  my  course  hence  next  to  the  country  where 
that  language  is  spoken  ;  but  I  think  I  shall  so- 
journ here  about  two  months  longer,  therefore  I 
pray  direct  your  letters  accordingly,  or  any  other 
you  have  for  me.  One  of  the  prime  comforts  of  a 
traveller  is  to  receive  letters  from  his  friends  ;  they 
beget  new  spirits  in  him,  and  present  joyful  objects 
to  his  fancy  when  his  mind  is  clouded  sometimes 
with  fogs  of  melancholy  ;  thereof  I  pray  make  me 
happy  as  often  as  your  conveniency  will  serve  with 
yours.  You  may  send  or  deliver  them  to  Caf5tain 
Bacon  at  the  Glass  House,  who  will  see  them 
safely  sent. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  17 

So,  my  dear  brother,  I  pray  God  bless  us  both, 
and  send  us  after  this  large  distance  a  joyful  meet- 
ing.—  Your  loving  brother, 

J.  H. 

Amsterdam,  April  i,  i6i7[9]. 

VI 
To  Dan.  Caldwell ^  Esq. ;  from  Amsterdam 

My   dear  Dan., 

I  HAVE  made  your  friendship  so  necessary 
unto  me  for  the  contentment  of  my  life,  that 
happiness  itself  would  be  but  a  kind  of  infelicity 
without  it.  It  is  as  needful  to  me  as  fire  and 
water,  as  the  very  air  I  take  in  and  breathe  out ; 
it  is  to  me  not  only  necessitudo  but  necessitas  : 
therefore  I  pray  let  me  enjoy  it  in  that  fair  pro- 
portion that  I  desire  to  return  unto  you  by  way  of 
correspondence  and  retaliation.  Our  first  league 
of  love,  you  know,  was  contracted  among  the 
muses  in  Oxford  ;  for  no  sooner  was  I  matricu- 
lated to  her,  but  I  was  adopted  to  you  ;  I  became 
her  son  and  your  friend  at  one  time.  You  know 
I  followed  you  then  to  London,  where  our  love 
received  confirmation  in  the  Temple  and  else- 
where. We  are  now  far  asunder,  for  no  less  than 
a  sea  severs  us,  and  that  no  narrow  one,  but  the 
German  Ocean :  Distance  sometimes  endears 
friendship,  and  absence  sweeteneth  it,  it  much 
enhanceth  the  value  of  it,  and  makes  it  more  pre- 


i8  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

cious.  Let  this  be  verified  in  us,  let  that  love 
which  formerly  used  to  be  nourished  by  personal 
communication  and  the  lips  be  now  fed  by  let- 
ters ;  let  the  pen  supply  the  office  of  the  tongue; 
letters  have  a  strong  operation,  they  have  a  kind 
of  art-like  embraces  to  mingle  souls,  and  make 
them  meet  though  millions  of  paces  asunder  ;  by 
them  we  may  converse  and  know  how  it  fares 
with  each  other  as  it  were  by  intercourse  of  spirits. 
Therefore  amongst  your  civil  speculations  I  pray 
let  your  thought  sometimes  reflect  on  me  (your 
absent  self)  and  wrap  those  thoughts  in  paper,  and 
so  send  them  me  over  ;  I  promise  you  they  shall 
be  very  welcome,  I  shall  embrace  and  hug  them 
with  my  best  affections. 

Commend  me  to  Tom  Bowyer,  and  enjoin  him 
the  like.  I  pray  be  no  niggard  in  distributing  my 
love  plentifully  amongst  our  friends  at  the  Inns 
of  Court.  Let  Jack  Toldervy  have  my  kind  com- 
mends with  this  caveat,  "That  the  pot  which  goes 
often  to  the  water  comes  home  cracked  at  last ;  " 
therefore  I  hope  he  will  be  careful  how  he  makes 
the  Fleece  in  Cornhill  his  thoroughfare  too  often. 
So  may  my  dear  Daniel  live  happy,  and  love  his 

J.  H. 

From  Amsterdam,  April  the  lo,  1619. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  19 

VII 

To  my  Father ;  frojn  Ajnsterdam 

I  AM  lately  arrived  in  Holland  in  a  good  plight 
of  health,  and  continue  yet  in  this  town  of 
Amsterdam,  a  town  I  believe  that  there  are  few 
of  her  fellows,  being  from  a  mean  fishing  dorp,  come 
in  a  short  revolution  of  time,  by  a  monstrous  in- 
crease of  commerce  and  navigation,  to  be  one  of 
the  greatest  marts  of  Europe.  It  is  admirable  to 
see  what  various  sorts  of  buildings  and  new  fabrics 
are  now  here  erecting  everywhere  ;  not  in  houses 
only,  but  in  whole  streets  and  suburbs  ;  so  that  it 
is  thought  she  will  in  a  short  time  double  her 
proportion  in  business. 

I  am  lodged  in  a  Frenchman's  house,  who  is 
one  of  the  deacons  of  our  English  Brownists' 
Church  here;  it  is  not  far  from  the  synagogue  of 
Jews,  who  have  free  and  open  exercise  of  their 
religion  here.  I  believe  in  this  street  where  I 
lodge  there  be  well  near  as  many  religions  as 
there  be  houses  ;  for  one  neighbour  knows  not 
nor  cares  not  much  what  religion  the  other  is  of, 
so  that  the  number  of  conventicles  exceeds  the 
number  of  churches  here.  And  let  this  country 
call  itself  as  long  as  it  will  the  United  Provinces 
one  way,  I  am  persuaded  in  this  point  there  's  no 
place  so  disunited- 

The  Dog  and   Rag  Market  is  hard  by,  where 


20  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

every  Sunday  morning  there  is  a  kind  of  public 
mart  for  those  commodities,  notwithstanding  their 
precise  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

Upon  Saturday  last  I  happened  to  be  in  a  gen- 
tleman's company,  who  showed  me  as  I  walked 
along  in  the  streets  a  long-bearded  old  Jew  of  the 
tribe  of  Aaron  ;  when  the  other  Jews  met  him 
they  fell  down  and  kissed  his  foot.  This  was  that 
Rabbi  with  whom  our  countryman  Broughton  had 
such  a  dispute. 

This  city,  notwithstanding  her  huge  trade,  is  far 
inferior  to  London  for  populousness  ;  and  this  I 
infer  out  of  their  weekly  bills  of  mortality,  which 
come  not  at  most  but  to  fifty  or  thereabout  ; 
whereas  in  London  the  ordinary  number  is  'twixt 
two  and  three  hundred,  one  week  with  another. 
Nor  are  there  such  wealthy  men  in  this  town  as 
in  London  ;  for  by  reason  of  the  generality  of 
commerce,  the  banks,  adventures,  the  common 
shares  and  stocks  which  most  have  in  the  Indian 
and  other  companies,  the  wealth  doth  diffuse  itsdf 
here  in  a  strange  kind  of  equality,  not  one  of  the 
burghers  being  exceeding  rich,  or  exceeding  poor. 
Insomuch,  that  I  believe  our  four  and  twenty 
aldermen  may  buy  a  hundred  of  the  richest  men 
in  Amsterdam.  It  is  a  rare  thing  to  meet  with  a 
beggar  here,  as  rare  as  to  see  a  horse,  they  say, 
upon  the  streets  of  Venice,  and  this  is  held  to  be 
one  of  their  best  pieces  of  Government ;  for  be- 
sides the  strictness  of  their  laws  against  mendi- 
cants, they  have  hospitals  of  all  sorts  for  young 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  21 

and  old,  both  for  the  relief  of  the  one  and  the 
employment  of  the  other,  so  that  there  is  no 
object  here  to  exercise  any  act  of  charity  upon. 
They  are  here  very  neat,  though  not  so  magnifi- 
cent in  their  buildings,  especially  in  their  frontis- 
pieces and  first  rooms ;  and  for  cleanliness  they 
may  serve  for  a  pattern  to  all  people.  They  will 
presently  dress  half  a  dozen  dishes  of  meat  with- 
out any  noise  or  show  at  all;  for  if  one  goes  to 
the  kitchen,  there  will  be  scarce  appearance  of 
anything  but  a  few  covered  pots  upon  a  turf  fire, 
which  is  their  prime  fuel.  After  dinner  they  fall 
a-scouring  of  those  pots,  so  that  the  outside  will 
be  as  bright  as  the  inside,  and  the  kitchen  sud- 
denly so  clean  as  if  no  meat  had  been  dressed 
there  a  month  before.  They  have  neither  well 
nor  fountain  or  any  spring  of  fresh  water  in  or 
about  all  this  city,  but  their  fresh  water  is  brought 
unto  them  by  boats.  Besides,  they  have  cisterns 
to  receive  the  rain  water  which  they  much  use,  so 
that  my  laundress,  bringing  my  linen  to  me  one 
day,  and  I  commending  the  whiteness  of  them, 
she  answered:  That  they  must  needs  be  white 
and  fair,  for  they  were  washed  in  aqua  coelestis^ 
meaning  sky  water. 

'T  were  cheap  living  here  were  it  not  for  the 
monstrous  excises  which  are  imposed  upon  all  sorts 
of  commodities,  both  for  belly  and  back;  for  the 
retailer  pays  the  States  almost  the  one  moiety  as 
much  as  he  paid  for  the  commodity  at  first,  nor 
doth  any  murmur  at  it,  because  it  goes  not  to  any 


11  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

favourite  or  private  purse,  but  to  preserve  them 
from  the  Spaniard,  their  common  enemy,  as  they 
term  him  ;  so  that  the  saying  is  truly  verified  here, 
"Defend  me  and  spend  me."  With  this  excise 
principally,  they  maintain  all  their  armies  by  sea 
and  land,  with  their  garrisons  at  home  and  abroad, 
both  here  and  in  the  Indies,  and  defray  all  other 
public  charges  besides. 

I  shall  hence  shortly  for  France,  and  in  my  way 
take  most  of  the  prime  towns  of  Holland  and  Zea- 
land, especially  Leyden  (the  University),  where 
I  shall  sojourn  some  days. —  So  humbly  craving 
a  continuance  of  your  blessing  and  prayers,  I  rest 
your  dutiful  son,  J.  H. 

May  the  i,  1619. 


VIII 

To  Dr  Tho.  Prichard  at  "Jesus  College  in 
Oxford ;  from  Leyden 

IT  is  the  royal  prerogative  of  love  not  to  be 
confined  to  that  small  local  compass  which  cir- 
cumscribes the  body,  but  to  make  his  sallies  and 
progresses  abroad  to  find  out  and  enjoy  his  desired 
object  under  what  region  soever.  Nor  is  it  the 
vast  gulf  of  Neptune,  or  any  distance  of  place,  or 
difference  of  clime  can  bar  him  of  this  privilege.  I 
never  found  the  experiment  hereof  so  sensibly  nor 
felt  the  comfort  of  it  so  much  as  since  I  shook 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  23 

hands  with  England.  For,  though  you  be  in  Ox- 
ford and  I  at  Leyden,  albeit  you  be  upon  an  island 
and  I  now  upon  the  continent  (though  the  lowest 
part  of  Europe),  yet  those  swift  postillions,  my 
thoughts,  find  you  out  daily,  and  bring  you  unto 
me.  I  behold  you  often  in  my  chamber  and  in 
my  bed ;  you  eat,  you  drink,  you  sit  down,  and 
walk  with  me,  and  my  fantasy  enjoys  you  often  in 
my  sleep  when  all  my  senses  are  locked  up  and  my 
soul  wanders  up  and  down  the  world,  sometimes 
through  pleasant  fields  and  gardens,  sometimes 
through  odd  uncouth  places,  over  mountains  and 
broken  confused  buildings.  As  my  love  to  you 
doth  thus  exercise  his  power,  so  I  desire  yours  to 
me  may  not  be  idle,  but  roused  up  sometimes  to 
find  me  out  and  summon  me  to  attend  you  in 
Jesus  College. 

I  am  now  here  in  Leyden,  the  only  academy 
besides  Franiker  of  all  the  United  Provinces. 
Here  are  nations  of  all  sorts,  but  the  Germans 
swarm  more  than  any.  To  compare  their  univer- 
sity to  yours  were  to  cast  New  Inn  in  counterscale 
with  Christ  Church  College,  or  the  alms  houses  on 
Tower  Hill  to  Sutton's  Hospital.  Here  are  no 
colleges  at  all,  God-wot  (but  one  for  the  Dutch), 
nor  scarce  the  face  of  an  university,  only  there  are 
general  schools  where  the  sciences  are  read  by  sev- 
eral professors,  but  all  the  students  are  oppidanes. 
A  small  time  and  less  learning  will  suffice  to  make 
one  a  graduate  ;  nor  are  those  formalities  of  habits 
and  other  decencies  here  as  with  you,  much  less 


24  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

those  exhibitions  and  support  for  scholars,  with 
other  encouragements  ;  insomuch,  that  the  Oxon- 
ians and  Cantabrigians bona  si  sua  nor'tnt^  were 

they  sensible  of  their  own  felicity,  are  the  happiest 
academians  on  earth  ;  yet  Apollo  hath  a  strong 
influence  here ;  and  as  Cicero  said  of  them  of 
Athens  :  Athenis  pingue  caelum^  tenuia  ingenia  (the 
Athenians  had  a  thick  air  and  thin  wits)  ;  so  I  may 
say  of  these  Lagdunensians,  they  have  a  gross  air, 
but  thin  subtle  wits  (some  of  them).  Witness  also 
Heinsius,  Grotius,  Arminius,and  Baudius.  Of  the 
two  last  I  was  told  a  tale,  that  Arminius  meeting 
Baudius  one  day  disguised  with  drink  (wherewith 
he  would  be  often)  he  told  him  "  Tu  Baudi  dede- 
coras  nostram  Academiam,  et  tu  Armeni  nostram 
Religionem  "  (Thou  Baudius  disgracest  our  Uni- 
versity ;  and  thou  Arminius  our  religion).  The 
heaven  here  hath  always  some  cloud  in  his  coun- 
tenance ;  and  from  this  grossness  and  spissitude  of 
air  proceeds  the  slow  nature  of  the  inhabitants,  yet 
this  slowness  is  recompensed  with  another  benefit ; 
it  makes  them  patient  and  constant,  as  in  all  other 
actions,  so  in  their  studies  and  speculations,  though 
they  use 

Crassos  transire  Dies,  lucemque  palustrem. 

I  pray  impart  my  love  liberally  amongst  my 
friends  in  Oxford,  and  when  you  can  make  truce 
with  your  more  serious  meditations  bestow  a 
thought,  drawn  into  a  few  lines,  upon  your     J.  H. 

Leyden,  May  the  30,  16 19. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  25 


IX 

To  Mr  Richard  Altham,  at  his  Chafuher  in 
Gray  s  Inn 

THOL^GH  vou  be  now  a  good  way  out  of 
my  reach,  yet  you  are  not  out  of  my  remem- 
brance ;  you  are  still  within  the  horizon  of  my  love. 
Now  the  horizon  of  love  is  large  and  spacious  ;  it 
is  as  boundless  as  thatof  the  imagination,  and  where 
the  imagination  rangeth,  the  memory  is  still  busy 
to  usher  in  and  present  the  desired  object  it  fixeth 
upon.  It  is  love  that  sets  them  both  on  work,  and 
may  be  said  to  be  the  highest  sphere  whence  they 
receive  their  motion.  Thus  you  appear  unto  me 
often  in  these  foreign  travels,  and  that  you  may 
believe  me  the  better,  I  send  you  these  lines  as  my 
ambassadors  (and  ambassadors  must  not  lie)  to  in- 
form you  accordingly,  and  to  salute  you. 

I  desire  to  know  how  you  like  Ployden ;  I 
heard  it  often  said  that  there  is  no  study  requires 
patience  and  constancy  more  than  the  common 
law,  for  it  is  a  good  while  before  one  comes  to  any 
known  perfection  in  it,  and  consequently  to  any 
gainful  practice.  This,  I  think,  made  Jack  Chaun- 
dler  throw  away  his  Littleton,  like  him  that  when 
he  could  not  catch  the  hare,  said  :  A  pox  upon  her, 
she  is  but  drv  tough  meat,  let  her  go.  It  is  not  so 
with  you,  for  I  know  you  are  of  that  disposition, 
that  when  you  mind  a  thing,  nothing  can  frighten 


26  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

you  in  making  constant  pursuit  after  it  till  you 
have  obtained  it ;  for  if  the  mathematics  with 
their  crabbedness  and  intricacy  could  not  deter 
you,  but  that  you  waded  through  the  very  midst 
of  them  and  arrived  to  so  excellent  a  perfection, 
I  believe  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  Ployden  to  das- 
tardize  or  cow  your  spirits  until  you  have  over- 
come him,  at  leastwise  have  so  much  of  him  as 
will  serve  your  turn.  I  know  you  were  always  a 
quick  and  pressing  disputant  in  logic  and  philo- 
sophy, which  makes  me  think  your  genius  is  fit 
for  law  (as  the  Baron,  your  excellent  father  was), 
for  a  good  logician  makes  always  a  good  lawyer  ; 
and  hereby  one  may  give  a  strong  conjecture  of 
the  aptness  or  inaptitude  of  one's  capacity  to  that 
study  and  profession  ;  and  you  know  as  well  as  I 
that  logicians  who  went  under  the  name  of  soph- 
isters,  were  the  first  lawyers  that  ever  were. 

I  shall  be  upon  uncertain  removes  hence,  until 
I  come  to  Rouen  in  France,  and  there  I  mean  to 
cast  anchor  a  good  while.  I  shall  expect  your  let- 
ters there  with  impatience.  I  pray  present  my  ser- 
vice to  Sir  James  Altham  and  to  my  good  lady, 
your  mother,  with  the  rest  to  whom  it  is  due  in 
Bishopsgate  Street  and  elsewhere.  —  So  I  am, 
yours  in  the  best  degree  of  friendship, 

J.H. 

Hague,  30  of  May  161 9. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  27 

X 

To  Sir  ya?nes  Crofts;  froiii  the  Hague 

THE  same  observance  that  a  father  may  chal- 
lenge of  his  child,  the  like  you  may  claim  of 
me  in  regard  of  the  extraordinary  care  you  have 
been  pleased  to  have  always,  since  I  had  the  hap- 
piness to  knov/  you,  of  the  course  of  my  fortunes. 
I  am  now  newly  come  to  the  Hague,  the  Court 
of  the  six  (and  almost  seven)  confederated  pro- 
vinces. The  Council  of  State  with  the  Prince  of 
Orange  makes  his  firm  residence  here,  unless  he 
be  upon  a  march,  and  in  motion  for  some  design 
abroad.  This  prince  (Maurice)  was  cast  in  a 
mould  suitable  to  the  temper  of  this  people.  He 
is  slow  and  full  of  wariment,  and  not  without  a 
mixture  of  fear ;  I  do  not  mean  a  pusillanimous 
but  politic  fear.  He  is  the  most  constant  in  the 
quotidian  course  and  carriage  of  his  life  of  any 
that  I  have  ever  heard  or  read  of;  for  whosoever 
knows  the  customs  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  may 
lell  what  he  is  doing  here  every  hour  of  the  day, 
•:hough  he  be  in  Constantinople.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  awaketh  about  six  in  summer  and  seven  in 
winter.  The  first  thing  he  doth,  he  sends  one  of 
his  grooms  or  pages  to  see  how  the  wind  sits,  and 
he  wears  or  leaves  off  his  waistcoat  accordingly, 
then  he  is  about  an  hour  dressing  himself,  and 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  his  closet,  then  comes 


28  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

in  the  secretary,  and  If  he  hath  any  private  or 
pubHc  letters  to  write,  or  any  other  dispatches  to 
make,  he  doth  it  before  he  stirs  from  his  cham- 
ber ;  then  comes  he  abroad,  and  goes  to  his  sta- 
bles, if  it  be  no  sermon-day,  to  see  some  of 
his  gentlemen  or  pages  (of  whose  breeding  he  is 
very  careful)  ride  the  great  horse.  He  is  very 
accessible  to  any  that  hath  business  with  him,  and 
showeth  a  winning  kind  of  familiarity,  for  he  will 
shake  hands  with  the  meanest  boor  of  the  coun- 
try, and  he  seldom  hears  any  commander  or  gen- 
tleman with  his  hat  on.  He  dines  punctually 
about  twelve,  and  his  table  is  free  for  all  comers, 
but  none  under  the  degree  of  a  captain  useth  to 
sit  down  at  it ;  after  dinner  he  stays  in  the  room  a 
good  while,  and  then  anyone  may  accost  him,  and 
tell  his  tale  ;  then  he  retires  to  his  chamber,  where 
he  answers  all  petitions  that  were  delivered  him  in 
the  morning,  and  towards  the  evening,  if  he  goes 
not  to  council,  which  is  seldom,  he  goes  either  to 
make  some  visits,  or  to  take  the  air  abroad,  and  ac- 
cording to  this  constant  method  he  passeth  his  life. 
There  are  great  stirs  like  to  arise  betwixt  the 
Bohemians  and  the  elected  king,  the  emperor,  and 
they  are  come  already  to  that  height,  that  thev 
consult  of  deposing  him,  and  to  choose  some  Pro- 
testant prince  to  be  their  king,  some  talk  of  the 
Duke  of  Saxony,  others  of  the  Palsgrave.  I  be- 
lieve the  States  here  would  rather  be  for  the  latter, 
in  regard  of  conformity  of  religion,  the  other  being 
a  Lutheran. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  29 

I  could  not  find  in  Amsterdam  a  large  Ortelius 
in  French  to  send  you,  but  from  Antwerp  I  will 
not  fail  to  serve  you. 

So  wishing  you  all  happiness  and  health,  and 
that  the  sun  may  make  many  progresses  more 
through  the  Zodiac  before  those  comely  gray  hairs 
of  yours  go  to  the  grave,  I  rest  your  very  humble 
servant,  J.  H. 

June  the  3,  16 19. 

XI 

To  Captain  Francis  Bacon,  at  the  Glass  House 
in  Broad  Street 

MY  last  to  you  was  from  Amsterdam,  since 
which  time  I  have  traversed  the  prime 
parts  of  the  United  Provinces,  and  I  am  now  in 
Zealand,  being  newly  come  to  this  town  of  Mid- 
dleborough,  which  is  much  crestfallen  since  the 
staple  of  English  cloth  was  removed  hence,  as  is 
Flishing  also,  her  next  neighbour,  since  the  de- 
parture of  the  English  garrison.  A  good  intelli- 
gent gentleman  told  me  the  manner  how  Flish- 
ing and  the  Brill,  our  two  cautionary  towns  here, 
were  redeemed,  which  was  thus  :  The  nine  hun- 
dred and  odd  soldiers  at  Flishing  and  the  Ram- 
makins  hard  by,  being  many  weeks  without  their 
pay,  they  borrowed  divers  sums  of  money  of  the 
states  of  this  town,  who  finding  no  hopes  of  sup- 
ply from  England,  advice  was  sent  to  the  States- 


30  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

General  at  the  Hague,  they  consulting  with  Sir 
Ralph  Winwood,  our  ambassador  (who  was  a 
favourable  instrument  unto  them  in  this  business, 
as  also  in  the  match  with  the  Palsgrave)  sent  in- 
structions to  the  Lord  Caroon,  to  acquaint  the 
Earl  of  Suffolk,  then  Lord  Treasurer,  herewith  ; 
and  in  case  they  could  find  no  satisfaction  there, 
to  make  his  address  to  the  king  himself,  which 
Caroon  did.  His  Majesty  being  much  incensed 
that  his  subjects  and  soldiers  should  starve  for 
want  of  their  pay  in  a  foreign  country,  sent  for 
the  Lord  Treasurer,  who,  drawing  His  Majesty 
aside,  and  telling  how  empty  his  exchequer  was. 
His  Majesty  told  the  ambassador  that  if  his  mas- 
ters, the  States,  would  pay  the  money  they  owed 
him  upon  those  towns,  he  would  deliver  them 
up ;  the  ambassador  returning  the  next  day  to 
know  whether  His  Majesty  persisted  in  the  same 
resolution,  in  regard  that  at  his  former  audience, 
he  perceived  him  to  be  a  little  transported.  His 
Majesty  answered.  That  he  knew  the  states  of 
Holland  to  be  his  good  friends  and  confederates, 
both  in  point  of  religion  and  policy  ;  therefore 
he  apprehended  not  the  least  fear  of  any  differ- 
ence that  should  fall  out  between  them,  in  con- 
templation whereof,  if  they  desired  to  have  their 
towns  again,  he  would  willingly  surrender  them. 
Hereupon  the  States  made  up  the  sum  presently, 
which  came  in  convenient  time,  for  it  served  to 
defray  the  expenseful  progress  he  made  to  Scot- 
land the  summer  following.    When  that  money 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  31 

was  lent  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  it  was  articled  that 
interest  should  be  paid  upon  interest  ;  and  be- 
sides, that  for  every  gentleman  who  should  lose 
his  life  in  the  States'  service  they  should  make 
good  five  pounds  to  the  Crown  of  England.  All 
this  His  Majesty  remitted,  and  only  took  the 
principal ;  and  this  was  done  in  requital  of  that 
princely  entertainment,  and  great  presents  which 
my  Lady  Elizabeth  had  received  in  divers  of  their 
towns  as  she  passed  to  Heidelberg. 

The  bearer  hereof  is  Signor  Antonio  Miotti, 
who  was  master  of  a  crystal  glass  furnace  here  a 
long  time,  and  as  I  have  it  by  good  intelligence,  he 
is  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  knowing  men  for  the 
guidance  of  a  glass-work  in  Christendom.  There- 
fore according  to  my  instructions  I  send  him  over, 
and  hope  to  have  done  Sir  Robert  good  service 
thereby.  So  with  my  kind  respects  unto  you,  and 
my  most  humble  service,  where  you  know  it  is 
due,  I  rest,  your  affectionate  servant, 

J.  H. 

June  the  6,  16 19. 

XII 

To  Sir  'James  Crofts;  Antwerp 

I  PRESUME  that  my  last  to  you  from  the 
Hague  came  safe  to  hand.  I  am  now  come  to 
a  more  cheerful  country,  and  amongst  a  people 
somewhat  more  vigorous  and  mettled,  being  not 


32  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

so  heavy  as  the  Hollander,  or  homely  as  they  of 
Zealand.  This  goodly  ancient  city  methinks  looks 
like  a  disconsolate  widow,  or  rather  some  superan- 
nuated virgin,  that  hath  lost  her  lover,  being  almost 
quite  bereft  of  that  flourishing  commerce,  where- 
with before  the  falling  off  the  rest  of  the  Provinces 
from  Spain  she  abounded,  to  the  envy  of  all  other 
cities  and  marts  of  Europe,  There  are  few  places 
this  side  the  Alps,  better  built,  and  so  well  streeted 
as  this,  and  none  at  all  so  well  girt  with  bastions 
and  ramparts,  which  in  some  places  are  so  spacious 
that  they  usually  take  the  air  in  coaches  upon  the 
very  walls,  which  are  beautified  with  divers  rows  of 
trees  and  pleasant  walks.  The  citadel  here,  though 
it  be  an  addition  to  the  stateliness  and  strength  of 
the  town,  yet  it  serves  as  a  shrewd  curb  unto  her, 
which  makes  her  champ  upon  the  bit,  and  foam 
sometimes  with  anger,  but  she  cannot  help  It.  The 
tumults  in  Bohemia  now  grow  hotter  and  hotter  ; 
they  write  how  the  great  council  at  Prague  fell  to 
such  a  hurliburly  that  some  of  those  senators  who 
adhered  to  the  Emperor  were  thrown  out  at  the 
windows,  where  some  were  maimed,  some  broke 
their  necks.  I  am  shortly  to  bid  a  farewell  to  the 
Netherland,  and  to  bend  my  course  for  France, 
where  I  shall  be  most  ready  to  entertain  any  com- 
mands of  yours.  So  may  all  health  and  happi- 
ness attend  you,  according  to  the  wishes  of  your 
obliged  servant, 

J.  H. 
July  5,  1619. 


OF   JAMES   HOWELL  ;^2 

XIII 

To  Dr  Thotnas  Prichard^  at  Oxford; from  Rouen 

I  HAVE  now  taken  firm  footing  in  France,  and 
though  France  be  one  of  the  chiefest  climates 
of  compliment,  yet  I  can  use  none  towards  you, 
but  tell  you  in  plain  downright  language  that  in 
the  list  of  those  friends  I  left  behind  me  in  Eng- 
land, you  are  one  of  the  prime  rank,  one  whose 
name  I  have  marked  with  the  whitest  stone.  If 
you  have  gained  such  a  place  amongst  the  choicest 
friends  of  mine,  I  hope  you  will  put  me  some- 
where amongst  yours,  though  I  but  fetch  up  the 
rear,  being  contented  to  be  the  infima  species,  the 
lowest  in  the  predicament  of  your  friends. 

I  shall  sojourn  a  good  while  in  this  city  of 
Rouen,  therefore  I  pray  make  me  happy  with  the 
comfort  of  your  letters,  which  I  shall  expect  with 
a  longing  impatience.  I  pray  send  me  ample  ad- 
vertisement of  your  welfare,  and  of  the  rest  of 
our  friends,  as  well  upon  the  banks  of  Isis  as 
amongst  the  British  mountains.  I  am  but  a  fresh 
man  yet  in  France,  therefore  I  can  send  you  no 
news,  but  that  all  is  here  quiet,  and  it  is  no  ordi- 
nary news  that  the  French  should  be  quiet.  But 
some  think  this  calm  will  not  last  long,  for  the 
Queen  Mother  (late  Regent)  is  discontented  being 
restrained  from  coming  to  the  Court,  or  to  the 
city  of  Paris,  and  the  tragical  death  of  her  favour- 


34  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

ite  (and  foster-brother),  the  late  Marquis  of  Ancre, 
lieth  yet  in  her  stomach  undigested.  She  hath  the 
Duke  of  Espernon,  and  divers  other  potent 
princes,  that  would  be  strongly  at  her  devotion 
(as  it  is  thought),  if  she  would  stir.  I  pray  pre- 
sent my  service  to  Sir  Eubule  Thelwall,  and  send 
me  word  with  what  pace  Jesus  College  new  walls 
go  up.  I  will  borrow  my  conclusion  to  you  at 
this  time  of  my  countryman  Owen  — 

Uno  non  possum  quantum  te  diligo  versu 
Dicere,  si  satis  est  distichon,  ecce  duos. 

I  cannot  in  one  verse  my  love  declare. 

If  two  will  serve  the  turn,  lo!  here  they  are. 

Whereunto  I  will  add  this  surname  Anagram.  — 
Yours  whole,  J.  Howel. 

Aug.  6,  1619. 


XIV 
To  Dan,  Caldwell^  Esq.;  from  Rouen 

My  dear  Dan., 

WHEN  I  came  first  to  this  town,  amongst 
other  objects  of  contentment  which  I 
found  here,  whereof  there  are  variety,  a  letter  of 
yours  was  brought  me,  and  't  was  a  she-letter,  for 
two  more  were  enwombed  in  her  body;  she  had 
an  easy  and  quick  deliverance  of  that  twin ;  but 
besides  them,  she  was  big  and  pregnant  of  divers 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  35 

sweet  pledges,  and  lively  evidences  of  vour  own 
love  towards  me,  whereof  I  am  as  fond  as  any 
mother  can  be  of  her  child.  I  shall  endeavour  to 
cherish  and  foster  this  dear  love  of  yours  with  all 
the  tenderness  that  can  be,  and  warm  it  at  the  fuel 
of  my  best  affections  to  make  it  grow  every  day 
stronger  and  stronger,  until  it  comes  to  the  state 
of  perfection,  because  I  know  it  is  a  true  and  real, 
it  is  no  spurious  or  adulterated  love.  If  I  intend 
to  be  so  indulgent  and  careful  of  yours  I  hope  you 
will  not  suffer  mine  to  starve  with  you  ;  my  love 
to  you  needs  not  much  tending,  for  it  is  a  lusty 
strong  love,  and  will  not  easily  miscarry. 

I  pray,  when  you  write  next,  to  send  me  a  dozen 
pair  of  the  best  white  kidskin  gloves  the  Royal 
Exchange  can  afford  ;  as  also  two  pair  of  the  pur- 
est white  worsted  stockings  you  can  get  of  women 
size,  together  with  half  a  dozen  pairs  of  knives. 
I  pray,  send  your  man  with  them  to  Vacandary, 
the  French  post  upon  Tower  Hill,  who  will  bring 
them  me  safely.  When  I  go  to  Paris  I  shall  send 
you  some  curiosities,  equivalent  to  these.  I  have 
here  enclosed  returned  an  answer  to  those  two 
that  came  in  yours  ;  I  pray,  see  them  safely  deliv- 
ered. My  kind  respects  to  your  brother  sergeant 
at  Court,  to  all  at  Battersea,  or  anywhere  else  where 
you  think  my  commendations  may  be  well  placed. 

No  more  at  this  time,  but  that  I  recommend  you 
to  the  never-failing  providence  of  God,  desiring 
you  to  go  on  in  nourishing  still  between  us  that 
love  which,  for  my  part  — 


36  FAMILIAR   LETTERS 

No  traverses  of  chance,  of  time,  or  fate. 

Shall  ere  extinguish  till  our  lives'  last  date. 

But  as  the  vine  her  lovely  elm  doth  wire, 

Grasp  both  our  hearts,  and  flame  with  fresh  desire. 

Yours,  J.  H. 

Rouen,  Jug.  13,  1619. 

XV 

To  my  Father ;  from  Rouen 

'VT'OURS  of  the  third  of  August  came  to  safe 
X  hand  in  an  enclosed  from  my  brother;  you 
may  make  easy  conjecture  how  welcome  it  was  unto 
me,  and  to  what  a  height  of  comfort  it  raised  my 
spirits,  in  regard  it  was  the  first  I  received  from  you 
since  I  crossed  the  seas  ;  I  humbly  thank  you  for 
the  blessing  you  sent  along  with  it. 

I  am  now  upon  the  fair  continent  of  France,  one 
of  nature's  choicest  masterpieces,  one  of  Ceres' 
chiefest  barns  for  corn,  one  of  Bacchus'  prime  wine 
cellars  and  of  Neptune's  best  salt  pits;  a  complete 
self-sufficient  country,  where  there  is  rather  a  super- 
fluity than  defect  of  anything,  either  for  necessity 
or  pleasure;  did  the  policy  of  the  country  corre- 
spond with  the  bounty  of  nature  in  the  equal  dis- 
tribution of  the  wealth  amongst  the  inhabitants,  for 
I  think  there  is  not  upon  the  earth  a  richer  coun- 
try and  poorer  people.  'Tis  true,  England  hath  a 
good  repute  abroad  for  her  fertility,  yet,  be  our  har- 
vest never  so  kindly  and  our  crops  never  so  plenti- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  37 

fulj  we  have  every  year  commonly  some  grain  from 
thence  or  from  Danzic  and  other  places  imported 
by  the  merchant ;  besides,  there  be  many  more 
heaths,  commons,  bleak-barren  hills,  and  waste 
grounds  in  England  by  many  degrees  than  I  find 
here  ;  and  I  am  sorry  our  country  of  Wales  should 
give  more  instances  hereof  than  any  other  part. 

This  province  of  Normandv,  once  an  appendix 
of  the  Crown  of  England,  though  it  want  wine,  yet 
it  yields  the  king  as  much  demesnes  as  any  one  of 
the  rest.  The  lower  Norman  hath  cider  for  his 
common  drink  ;  and  I  visibly  observed  that  they 
are  more  plump  and  replete  in  their  bodies,  and  of 
a  clearer  complexion  than  those  that  drink  alto- 
gether wine.  In  this  great  city  of  Rouen  there  be 
many  monuments  of  the  English  nation  yet  extant. 
On  the  outside  of  the  highest  steeple  of  the  great 
church  there  is  the  word  of  God  engraven  in  huge 
golden  characters,  every  one  almost  as  long  as  my- 
self to  make  them  the  more  visible.  In  this  steeple 
hangs  also  the  greatest  bell  of  Christendom,  called 
ct Amboise^  for  it  weighs  near  upon  forty  thousand 
pounds  weight.  There  is  also  here  Saint  Ouen,  the 
'  greatest  sanctuary  in  the  city,  founded  by  one  of 
our  compatriots,  as  the  name  imports.  This  pro- 
l  vince  is  also  subject  to  wardships,  and  no  other  part 
'  of  France  besides  ;  but  whether  the  Conqueror 
transported  that  law  to  England  from  hence,  or 
whether  he  sent  it  over  from  England  hither,  I 
cannot  resolve  you.  There  is  a  marvellous  quick 
trade  beaten  in   this  town,  because  of  the  great 


,'iD49J5() 


38  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

navigable  river  Sequena  (the  Seine)  that  runs  hence 
to  Paris,  whereon  there  stands  a  strange  bridge 
that  ebbs  and  flows,  that  rises  and  falls  with  the 
river,  it  being  made  of  boats,  whereon  coach  and 
carts  may  pass  over  as  well  as  men ;  besides,  this 
is  the  nearest  mercantile  city  that  stands  'twixt 
Paris  and  the  sea. 

My  last  unto  you  was  from  the  Low  Countries, 
where  I  was  in  motion  to  and  fro  above  four 
months ;  but  I  fear  it  miscarried  in  regard  you 
make  no  mention  of  it  in  yours. 

I  begin  more  and  more  to  have  a  sense  of  the 
sweetness  and  advantage  of  foreign  travel.  I  pray, 
when  you  come  to  London  to  find  a  time  to  visit 
Sir  Robert,  and  acknowledge  his  great  favours 
to  me,  and  desire  a  continuance  thereof,  accord- 
ing as  I  shall  endeavour  to  deserve  them. —  So, 
with  my  due  and  daily  prayers  for  your  health, 
and  a  speedy  successful  issue  of  all  your  law  busi- 
ness, I  humbly  crave  your  blessing,  and  rest, 
your  dutiful  son,  J.  H. 

September  the  7,  1619. 

XVI 

To  Captain  Francis  Bacon ;  frof?i  Paris 

I  RECEIVED  two  of  yours  in  Rouen  with 
the  bills  of  exchange  there  inclosed,  and  accord- 
ing to  your  directions  I  sent  you  those  things 
which  you  wrote  for. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  39 

I  am  now  newly  come  to  Paris,  this  huge  mag- 
azine of  men,  the  epitome  of  this  large  populous 
kingdom  and  rendezvous  of  all  foreigners.  The 
structures  here  are  indifferently  fair,  though  the 
streets  generally  foul,  all  the  four  seasons  of  the 
vear,  which  I  impute  first,  to  the  position  of  the 
city  being  built  upon  an  isle  (the  Isle  of  France, 
made  so  by  the  branching  and  serpentine  course 
of  the  river  of  Seine),  and  having  some  of  her  sub- 
urbs seated  high,  the  filth  runs  down  the  channel 
and  settles  in  many  places  within  the  body  of  the 
city,  which  lieth  upon  a  flat ;  as  also  for  a  world 
of  coaches,  carts,  and  horses  of  all  sorts  that  go  to 
and  fro  perpetually,  so  that  sometimes  one  shall 
meet  with  a  stop  half  a  mile  long  of  those  coaches, 
carts,  and  horses  that  can  move  neither  forward 
nor  backward  by  reason  of  some  sudden  encounter 
of  others  coming  a  cross-way,  so  that  often  times 
it  will  be  an  hour  or  two  before  they  can  disen- 
tangle. In  such  a  stop  the  great  Henry  was  so 
fatally  slain  by  Ravillac.  Hence  comes  it  to  pass 
that  this  town  (for  Paris  is  a  town,  a  city,  and  a 
University)  is  always  dirty,  and  it  is  such  a  dirt, 
that  by  perpetual  motion  is  beaten  into  such  a 
thick  black  unctuous  oil  that  where  it  sticks  no  art 
can  wash  it  off  of  some  colours,  insomuch  that  it 
may  be  no  improper  comparison  to  say,  that  an 
ill  name  is  like  the  crot  (the  dirt)  of  Paris,  which  is 
indelible  ;  besides  the  stain  this  dirt  leaves,  it  gives 
also  so  strong  a  scent  that  it  may  be  smelt  many 
miles  off  if  the  wind  be  in  one's  face  as  he  comes 


40  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

from  the  fresh  air  of  the  country.  This  may  be  one 
cause  why  the  plague  is  always  in  some  corner  or 
other  of  this  vast  city,  which  may  be  called,  as 
once  Scythia  was.  Vagina  populorum,  or  (as  man- 
kind was  called  by  a  great  philosopher)  a  great 
molehill  of  ants.  Yet  I  believe  this  city  is  not  so 
populous  as  she  seems  to  be,  for  her  form  being 
round  (as  the  whole  kingdom  is)  the  passengers 
wheel  about  and  meet  oftener  than  they  use  to  do 
in  the  long  continued  streets  of  London,  which 
makes  London  appear  less  populous  than  she  is 
indeed,  so  that  London  for  length  (though  not 
for  latitude),  including  Westminster,  exceeds 
Paris,  and  hath  in  Michaelmas  term  more  souls 
moving  within  her  in  all  places.  It  is  under  one 
hundred  years  that  Paris  is  become  so  sumptuous 
and  strong  in  buildings  ;  for  her  houses  were  mean 
until  a  mine  of  white  stone  was  discovered  hard 
by,  which  runs  in  a  continued  vein  of  earth  and 
is  digged  out  with  ease,  being  soft,  and  is  between 
a  white  clay  and  chalk  at  first,  but  being  pullied 
up,  with  the  open  air  it  receives  a  crusty  kind  of 
hardness  and  so  becomes  perfect  freestone  ;  and 
before  it  is  sent  up  from  the  pit  they  can  reduce 
it  to  anv  form.  Of  this  stone  the  Louvre,  the 
king's  palace,  is  built,  which  is  a  vast  fabric,  for 
the  gallery  wants  not  much  of  an  Italian  mile  in 
length,  and  will  easily  lodge  3000  men,  which 
some  told  me  was  the  end  for  which  the  last  king 
made  it  so  big,  that  lying  at  the  fag-end  of  this 
great  mutinous  city,  if  she  perchance  should  rise, 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  41 

the  king  might  pour  out  of  the  Louvre  so  many 
thousand  men  unawares  into  the  heart  of  her. 

I  am  lodged  here  hard  by  the  Bastile,  because  it 
is  furthest  off  from  those  places  where  the  English 
resort,  for  I  would  go  on  to  get  a  little  language  as 
soon  as  1  could.  In  my  next  I  shall  impart  unto 
you  what  State  news  France  affords.  —  In  the  in- 
terim, and  always,  I  am,  your  humble  servant, 

J.  H. 

Paris,  the  30  of  March  1620. 


XVII 

To  Richard  Althamy  Esquire ;  from  Paris 

LOVE  is  the  marrow  of  friendship  and  letters 
are  the  elixir  of  love.  They  are  the  best  fuel 
of  affection,  and  cast  a  sweeter  odour  than  any 
frankincense  can  do.  Such  an  odour,  such  an 
aromatic  perfume  your  late  letter  brought  with  it, 
proceeding  from  the  fragrancy  of  those  dainty 
flowers  of  eloquence,  which  I  found  blossoming  as 
it  were  in  every  line  ;  I  mean  those  sweet  expres- 
sions of  love  and  wit,  which  in  every  period  were 
intermingled  with  so  much  art  that  they  seemed  to 
contend  for  mastery  which  was  the  strongest.  I 
must  confess,  that  you  put  me  to  hard  shifts  to 
correspond  with  you  in  such  exquisite  strains  and 
raptures  of  love,  which  were  so  lively  that  I  must 
needs  judge  them  to  proceed  from  the  motions, 
from    the   diastole    and  systole  of  a  heart  truly 


42  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

affected.  Certainly  your  heart  did  dictate  every 
syllable  you  wrote,  and  guided  your  hand  all 
along.  Sir,  give  me  leave  to  tell  you,  that  not  a 
dram,  nor  a  dose,  nor  a  scruple  of  this  precious 
love  of  yours  is  lost,  but  is  safely  treasured  up  in 
my  breast,  and  answered  in  like  proportion  to  the 
full ;  mine  to  you  is  as  cordial,  it  is  passionate  and 
perfect,  as  love  can  be. 

I  thank  you  for  the  desire  you  have  to  know 
how  it  fares  with  me  abroad.  I  thank  God  I  am 
perfectly  well,  and  well  contented  with  this  wan- 
dering course  of  life  awhile.  I  never  enjoyed  my 
health  better,  but  I  was  like  to  endanger  it  two 
nights  ago ;  for  being  in  some  jovial  company 
abroad,  and  coming  late  to  our  lodging,  we  were 
suddenly  surprised  by  a  crew  oi  filous  or  night 
rogues,  who  drew  upon  us,  and  as  we  had  ex- 
changed some  blows,  it  pleased  God  the  Cheva- 
lieur/'de  Guet,  an  officer  who  goes  up  and  down 
the  streets  all  night  on  horseback  to  prevent  dis- 
orders, passed  by,  and  so  rescued  us  ;  but  Jack 
White  was  hurt,  and  I  had  two  thrusts  in  my 
cloak.  There  is  never  a  night  passeth  but  some 
robbing  or  murder  is  committed  in  this  town,  so 
that  it  is  not  safe  to  go  late  anywhere,  specially 
about  the  Pont-Neuf,  the  New  Bridge,  though 
Henry  the  Great  himself  lies  sentinel  there  in 
arms,  upon  a  huge  Florentine  horse,  and  sits 
bare  to  every  one  that  passeth,  an  improper  pos- 
ture methinks  to  a  king  on  horseback.  Not  long 
since,  one  of  the    secretaries  of  State   (whereof 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  43 

there  are  always  four)  having  been  invited  to 
the  suburbs  of  Saint  Germains  to  supper,  left  or- 
der with  one  of  his  lackeys  to  bring  him  his  horse 
about  nine.  It  so  happened,  that  a  mischance  be- 
fell the  horse,  which  lamed  him  as  he  went  a  water- 
ing to  the  Seine,  insomuch  that  the  secretary  was 
put  to  beat  the  hoof  himself,  and  foot  it  home ; 
but  as  he  was  passing  the  Pont-Neuf  with  his 
lackey  carrying  a  torch  before  him,  he  might  over- 
hear a  noise  of  clashing  of  swords  and  fighting, 
and  looking  under  the  torch  and  perceiving  they 
were  but  two,  he  bade  his  lackey  go  on  ;  'they  had 
not  made  many  paces,  but  two  armed  men,  with 
their  pistols  cocked  and  swords  drawn,  made  puff- 
ing towards  them,  whereof  one  had  a  paper  in  his 
hand,  which  he  said  he  had  casually  took  up  in 
the  streets,  and  the  difference  between  them  was 
about  that  paper;  therefore  they  desired  the  sec- 
retary to  read  it,  with  a  great  deal  of  compliment. 
The  secretary  took  out  his  spectacles  and  fell  a 
reading  of  the  said  paper,  whereof  the  substance 
was:  "That  it  should  be  known  to  all  men,  that 
whosoever  did  pass  over  that  bridge  after  nine 
o'clock  at  night  in  winter,  and  ten  in  summer, 
was  to  leave  his  cloak  behind  him,  and  in  case  of 
no  cloak  his  hat."  The  secretary  starting  at  this, 
one  of  the  comrades  told  him  that  he  thought 
that  paper  concerned  him  ;  so  they  unmantled 
him  of  a  new  plush  cloak,  and  my  secretary  was 
content  to  go  home  quietly,  and  en  cuerpo.  This 
makes  me  think  often  of  the  excellent  nocturnal 


44  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

government  of  our  city  of  London,  where  one 
may  pass  and  repass  securely  all  hours  of  the 
night,  if  he  give  good  words  to  the  watch. 
There  is  a  gentle  calm  of  peace  now  throughout 
all  France,  and  the  king  intends  to  make  a  pro- 
gress to  all  the  frontier  towns  of  the  kingdom,  to 
see  how  they  are  fortified.  The  favourite,  Luines, 
strengtheneth  himself  more  and  more  in  his  min- 
ionship,  but  he  is  much  murmured  at  in  regard 
the  access  of  suitors  to  him  is  so  difficult,  which 
made  a  lord  of  this  land  say,  "  That  three  of  the 
hardest  things  in  the  world  were,  to  quadrat  a 
circle,  to  find  out  the  philosopher's  stone,  and  to 
speak  with  the  Duke  of  Luines." 

I  have  sent  you  by  Vacandary  the  post,  the 
French  bever  and  tweeses  you  wrote  for.  Bever 
hats  are  grown  dearer  of  late,  because  the  Jesuits 
have  got  the  monopoly  of  them  from  the  king. 

Farewell  dear  child  of  virtue  and  minion  of  the 
muses,  and  continue  to  love  your,  J.  H. 

Paris,  I  of  May  1620. 

XVIII 

To  Sir  'James  Crofts ;  from  Pan's 

I  AM  to  set  forward  this  week  for  Spain,  and  if 
I  can  find  no  commodity  of  embarkation  at 
Saint  Malos,  I  must  be  forced  to  journey  it  all  the 
way  by  land,  and  clamber  up  the  huge  Pyreney 
hills  ;  but  I  could  not  bid  Paris  adieu  till  I  had 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  45 

conveyed  my  true  and  constant  respects  to  you  by 
this  letter.  I  was  yesterday  to  wait  upon  Sir  Her- 
bert Crofts  at  Saint  Germains,  where  I  met  with  a 
French  gentleman,  who,  amongst  other  curiosities, 
which  he  pleased  to  show  me  up  and  down  Paris, 
brought  me  to  that  place  where  the  late  king  was 
slain,  and  to  that  where  the  Marquis  of  Ancre  was 
shot,  and  so  made  me  a  punctual  relation  of  all 
the  circumstances  of  those  two  acts,  which  in  re- 
gard they  were  rare,  and  I  believe  two  of  the 
notablest  accidents  that  ever  happened  in  France, 
I  thought  it  worth  the  labour  to  make  you  par- 
taker of  some  part  of  his  discourse. 

France,  as  all  Christendom  besides  (for  there 
was  then  a  truce  betwixt  Spain  and  the  Hollander) 
was  in  a  profound  peace,  and  had  continued  so 
twenty  years  together,  when  Henry  the  Fourth 
fell  upon  some  great  martial  design,  the  bottom 
whereof  is  not  known  to  this  day  ;  and  being  rich 
(for  he  had  heaped  up  in  the  Bastile  a  mount  of 
gold  that  was  as  high  as  a  lance)  he  levied  a  huge 
army  of  40,000  men,  whence  came  the  song,  "  The 
King  of  France  with  forty  thousand  men;  "  and 
upon  a  sudden  he  put  this  army  in  perfect  equi- 
page, and  some  say  he  invited  our  Prince  Henry  to 
come  unto  him  to  be  a  sharer  in  his  exploits.  But 
going  one  afternoon  to  the  Bastile  to  see  his  trea- 
sure and  ammunition,  his  coach  stopped  suddenly, 
by  reason  of  some  colliers  and  other  carts  that 
were  in  that  narrow  street ;  whereupon  one  Ravil- 
lac,  a  lay-Jesuit  (who  had  a  whole  twelve-month 


46  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

watched  an  opportunity  to  do  the  act),  put  his 
foot  boldly  upon  one  of  the  wheels  of  the  coach, 
and  with  a  long  knife  stretched  himself  over  their 
shoulders  who  were  in  the  boot  of  the  coach,  and 
reached  the  king  at  the  end,  and  stabbed  him  right 
in  the  left  side  to  the  heart,  and  pulling  out  the 
fatal  steel,  he  doubled  his  thrust ;  the  king  with  a 
ruthful  voice  cried  out,  "  Je  suis  blesse  "  (I  am 
hurt),  and  suddenly  the  blood  issued  at  his  mouth. 
The  regicide  villain  was  apprehended,  and  com- 
mand given  that  no  violence  should  be  offered 
him,  that  he  might  be  reserved  for  the  law,  and 
some  exquisite  torture.  The  queen  grew  half-dis- 
tracted hereupon,  who  had  been  crowned  Qiieen  of 
France  the  day  before  in  great  triumph  ;  but  a  few 
days  after  she  had  something  to  countervail,  if  not 
to  overmatch  her  sorrow  ;  for  according  to  Saint 
Lewis  law,  she  was  made  Queen  Regent  of  France 
during  the  king's  minority,  who  was  then  but 
about  ten  years  of  age.  Many  consultations  were 
held  how  to  punish  Ravillac,  and  there  were  some 
Italian  physicians  that  undertook  to  prescribe  a 
torment,  that  should  last  a  constant  torment  for 
three  days,  but  he  escaped  only  with  this  :  his 
body  was  pulled  between  four  horses,  that  one 
might  hear  his  bones  crack,  and  after  the  disloca- 
tion they  were  set  again,  and  so  he  was  carried  in 
a  cart  standing  half  naked,  with  a  torch  in  that 
hand  which  had  committed  the  murder ;  and  in 
the  place  where  the  act  was  done,  it  was  cut  off, 
and  a  gauntlet  of  hot  oil   was  clapped  upon  the 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  47 

stump,  to  staunch  the  blood,  whereat  he  gave  a 
doleful  shriek  ;  then  was  he  brought  upon  a  stage, 
where  a  new  pair  of  boots  was  provided  for  him, 
half-filled  with  boiling  oil;  then  his  body  was  pin- 
cered,  and  hot  oil  poured  into  the  holes.  In  all 
the  extremity  of  this  torture,  he  scarce  showed  any 
sense  of  pain  but  when  the  gauntlet  was  clapped 
upon  his  arms  to  staunch  the  flux,  at  that  time  of 
reeking  blood,  he  gave  a  shriek  only.  He  bore  up 
against  all  these  torments  about  three  hours  before 
he  died.  All  the  confession  that  could  be  drawn 
from  him  was  "  that  he  thought  to  have  done  God 
good  service,  to  take  away  that  king,  which  would 
have  embroiled  all  Christendom  in  an  endless 
war. 

A  fatal  thing  it  was  that  France  should  have 
three  of  her  kings  come  to  such  violent  deaths  in 
so  short  a  revolution  of  time.  Henry  the  Second, 
running  a  tilt  with  Monsieur  Montgomery,  was 
killed  by  a  splinter  of  a  lance  that  pierced  his 
eye  ;  Henry  the  Third,  not  long  after,  was  killed 
by  a  young  friar,  who,  in  lieu  of  a  letter  which 
he  pretended  to  have  for  him,  pulled  out  of  his 
long  sleeve  a  knife,  and  thrust  him  into  the  bot- 
tom of  the  belly  as  he  was  coming  from  his  close- 
stool,  and  so  despatched  him  ;  but  that  regicide 
was  hacked  to  pieces  in  the  place  by  the  nobles. 
The  same  destiny  attended  this  king  by  Ravillac, 
which  is  become  now  a  common  name  of  re- 
proach and  infamy  in  France. 

Never  was    king  so    much    lamented    as  this. 


48  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

There  are  a  world  not  only  of  his  pictures,  but 
statues,  up  and  down  France,  and  there  is  scarce 
a  market-town  but  hath  him  erected  in  the  mar- 
ket-place, or  over  some  gate,  not  upon  sign-posts, 
as  our  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  by  a  public  Act 
of  Parliament,  which  was  confirmed  in  the  con- 
sistory at  Rome,  he  was  entitled  Henry  the  Great, 
and  so  placed  in  the  Temple  of  Immortality.  A 
notable  prince  he  was,  and  of  an  admirable  tem- 
per of  body  and  mind  ;  he  had  a  graceful  facetious 
way  to  gain  both  love  and  awe ;  he  would  be 
never  transported  beyond  himself  with  choler, 
but  he  would  pass  by  anything  with  some  repartee, 
some  witty  strain,  wherein  he  was  excellent.  I  will 
instance  in  a  few  which  were  told  me  from  a  good 
hand.  One  day  he  was  charged  by  the  Duke  of 
Bouillon  to  have  changed  his  religion,  he  an- 
swered, "No,  cousin,  I  have  changed  no  religion, 
but  an  opinion;"  and  the  Cardinal  of  Perron 
being  by,  he  enjoined  him  to  write  a  treatise  for 
his  vindication.  The  cardinal  was  long  about  the 
work,  and  when  the  king  asked  from  time  to  time 
where  his  book  was,  he  would  still  answer  him 
"  that  he  expected  some  manuscripts  from  Rome 
before  he  could  finish  it."  It  happened  that  one 
day  the  king  took  the  cardinal  along  with  him  to 
look  on  his  workmen  and  new  buildings  at  the 
Louvre  ;  and  passing  by  one  corner  which  had 
been  a  long  time  begun,  but  left  unfinished,  the 
king  asked  the  chief  mason  why  that  corner  was 
not  all  this  while  perfected.    "  Sir,  it  is  because  I 


OF  JxlMES  HOWELL  49 

want  some  choice  stones."  "No,  no,"  said  the 
king,  looking  upon  the  cardinal,  "  it  is  because 
thou  wantest  manuscripts  from  Rome."  Another 
time,  the  old  Duke  of  Main,  who  was  used  to 
play  the  droll  with  him,  coming  softly  into  his 
bed-chamber,  and  thrusting  in  his  bald  head  and 
long  neck  in  a  posture  to  make  the  king  merry, 
it  happened  the  king  was  coming  from  doing  his 
ease,  and  spying  him,  he  took  the  round  cover  of 
the  close-stool  and  clapped  it  on  his  bald-sconce, 
saying,  "  Ah,  cousin,  you  thought  once  to  have 
taken  the  crown  off  of  my  head,  and  wear  it  on 
your  own  ;  but  this  off  my  tail  shall  now  serve 
your  turn."  Another  time,  when  at  the  siege  of 
Amiens,  he  having  sent  for  the  Count  of  Soissons 
(who  had  100,000  franks  a  year  pension  from  the 
Crown)  to  assist  him  in  those  wars,  and  that  the 
count  excused  himself  by  reason  of  his  years  and 
poverty,  having  exhausted  himself  in  the  former 
wars,  and  all  that  he  could  do  now  was  to  pray  for 
His  Majesty,  which  he  would  do  heartily.  This 
answer  being  brought  to  the  king,  he  replied  : 
"  Will  my  cousin,  the  Count  of  Soissons,  do  no- 
thing else  but  pray  for  me  ;  tell  him  that  prayer 
without  fasting  is  not  available  ;  therefore  I  will 
make  my  cousin  fast  also  from  his  pension  of 
100,000  per  annum." 

He  was  once  troubled  with  a  fit  of  the  gout, 
and  the  Spanish  ambassador  coming  then  to  visit 
him,  and  saying  he  was  sorry  to  see  His  Majesty 
so  lame,  he  answered  :  "  As  lame  as  I  am,  if  there 


so  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

were  occasion,  your  master  the  King  of  Spain 
should  no  sooner  have  his  foot  in  the  stirrup,  but 
he  should  find  me  on  horseback." 

By  these  few  you  may  guess  at  the  genius  of 
this  spiritful  prince.  I  could  make  many  more 
instances,  but  then  I  should  exceed  the  bounds 
of  a  letter.  When  I  am  in  Spain  you  shall  hear 
further  from  me,  and  if  you  can  think  on  any- 
thing wherein  I  may  serve  you,  believe  it,  sir, 
that  any  employment  from  you  shall  be  welcome 
to  your  much  obliged  servant,  J.   H. 

Paris,  12  of  May  1620. 


XIX 

To  my  Brother,  Dr.  Howell 

Brother, 

BEING  to-morrow  to  part  with  Paris  and  begin 
my  journey  for  Spain,  I  thought  it  not  amiss 
to  send  you  this,  in  regard  I  know  not  when  I 
shall  have  opportunity  to  write  unto  you  again. 

This  kingdom,  since  the  young  king  hath  taken 
the  sceptre  into  his  own  hands,  doth  flourish  very 
much  with  quietness  and  commerce;  nor  is  there 
any  motion  or  the  least  tintamar  of  trouble  in  any 
part  of  the  country,  which  is  rare  in  France.  'Tis 
true,  the  queen  mother  is  discontented  since  she 
left  her  regency,  being  confined,  and  I  know  not 
what  it  may  come  unto  in  time,  for  she  hath  a 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  51 

strong  party,  and  the  murdering  of  her  Marquis  of 
Ancre  will  yet  bleed  as  some  fear. 

I  was  lately  in  society  of  a  gentleman,  who  was  a 
spectator  of  that  tragedy,  and  he  pleased  to  relate 
unto  me  the  particulars  of  it,  which  was  thus  : 
When  Henry  the  Fourth  was  slain,  the  queen  dow- 
ager took  the  reins  of  the  government  into  her 
hands  during  the  young  king's  minority;  and 
amongst  others  whom  she  advanced,  Signior  Con- 
chino,  a  Florentine,  and  her  foster-brother  was  one. 
Her  countenance  came  to  shine  so  strongly  upon 
him  that  he  became  her  only  confidant  and  favourite, 
insomuch  that  she  made  him  Marquis  of  Ancre, 
one  of  the  twelve  Marshals  of  France,  Governor  of 
Normandy,  and  conferred  divers  other  honours 
and  offices  of  trust  upon  him,  and  who  but  he.  The 
princes  of  France  could  not  endure  this  domineer- 
ing of  a  stranger,  therefore  they  leagued  together 
to  suppress  him  by  arms.  The  queen  regent  hav- 
ing intelligence  thereof,  surprised  the  Prince  of 
Conde  and  clapped  him  up  in  the  Bastile.  The 
Duke  of  Main  fled  hereupon  to  Peronne  in 
Py cardie,  and  other  great  men  put  themselves  in  an 
armed  posture  to  stand  upon  their  guard.  The 
young  king  being  told  that  the  Marquis  of  Ancre 
was  the  ground  of  this  discontentment,  commanded 
Monsieur  de  Vitry,  Captain  of  his  Guard,  to  arrest 
him,  and  in  case  of  resistance  to  kill  him.  This 
business  was  carried  very  closely  till  the  next  morn- 
ing, that  the  said  marquis  was  coming  to  the  Louvre 
with  a  ruffling  train  of  gallants  after  him,  and  pass- 


52  FAMILIAR   LETTERS 

ing  over  the  drawbridge  at  the  court  gate,  Vitry 
stood  there  with  the  king's  guard  about  him,  and 
as  the  marquis  entered  he  told  him  that  he  had  a 
commission  from  the  king  to  apprehend  him;  there- 
fore, he  demanded  his  sword.  The  marquis  here- 
upon put  his  hand  upon  his  sword,  some  thought 
to  yield  it  up,  others  to  make  opposition ;  in  the 
meantime  Vitry  discharged  a  pistol  at  him,  and  so 
despatched  him.  The  king,  being  above  in  his 
gallery,  asked  what  noise  that  was  below  ?  One 
smilingly  answered,  "Nothing,  sir;  but  that  the 
Marshal  of  Ancre  is  slain,"  "Who  slew  him?" 
"The  Captain  of  your  guard."  "Why?"  "Because 
he  would  have  drawn  his  sword  at  your  Majesty's 
Royal  Commission."  Then  the  king  replied,  "Vitry 
hath  done  well,  and  I  will  maintain  the  act."  Pres- 
ently the  queen  mother  had  all  her  guard  taken  from 
her,  except  six  men  and  sixteen  women,  and  so  she 
was  banished  Paris  and  commanded  to  retire 
to  Blois.  Ancre's  body  was  buried  that  night  in 
a  church  hard  by  the  court,  but  the  next  morn- 
ing, the  lackeys  and  pages  (who  are  more  unhappy 
here  than  the  apprentices  in  London)  broke  up  his 
grave,  tore  his  coffin  to  pieces,  ripped  the  winding- 
sheet,  and  tied  his  body  to  an  ass's  tail,  and  so 
dragged  him  up  and  down  the  gutters  of  Paris, 
which  are  none  of  the  sweetest;  they  then  flicked 
off  his  ears  and  nailed  them  upon  the  gates  of  the 
city,  they  cut  off  his  genitories  (and  they  say  he  was 
hung  like  an  ass),  and  sent  them  for  a  present  to  the 
Duke  of  Main,  the  rest  of  his  body  they  carried  to 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  S3 

the  new  bridge,  and  hung  him  his  heels  upwards,  and 
head  downwards,  upon  a  new  gibbet  that  had  been 
set  up  a  little  before  to  punish  them  who  should 
speak  ill  of  the  present  Government,  and  it  was 
his  chance  to  have  the  maidenhead  of  it  himself. 
His  wife  was  hereupon  apprehended,  imprisoned, 
and  beheaded  for  a  witch  some  few  days  after  upon 
a  surmise  that  she  had  enchanted  the  queen  to 
dote  so  upon  her  husband;  and  they  say  the  young 
king's  picture  was  found  in  her  closet  in  virgin  wax, 
with  one  leg  melted  away.  A  little  after  a  process 
was  formed  against  the  marquis  (her  husband)  and 
so  he  was  condemned  after  death.  This  was  a 
right  act  of  a  French  popular  fury,  which  like  an 
angry  torrent  is  irresistible,  nor  can  any  banks, 
boundaries,  or  dykes  stop  the  impetuous  rage  of  it. 
How  the  young  king  will  prosper  after  so  high  and 
unexampled  an  act  of  violence,  by  beginning  his 
reign,  and  embruing  the  walls  of  his  own  court 
with  blood  in  that  manner,  there  are  diverse  cen- 
sures. 

When  I  am  settled  in  Spain  you  shall  hear  from 
me.  In  the  interim  I  pray  let  your  prayers  accom- 
pany me  in  this  long  journey,  and  when  you  write 
to  Wales  I  pray  acquaint  our  friends  with  my  wel- 
fare. So  I  pray  God  bless  us  both,  and  send  us  a 
happv  interview.  —  Your  loving  brother, 

J.H. 

Paris,  8  September  1620. 


54  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XX 

To  my  Cousin^  W.  Vaiighan,  Esq. ;  from 
Saint  Malo 

Cousin, 

I  AM  now  in  French  Brittany.  I  went  back 
from  Paris  to  Rouen,  and  so  through  all  Low 
Normandy  to  a  little  port  called  Granville,  where 
I  embarked  for  this  town  of  Saint  Malo,  but  I  did 
purge  so  violently  at  sea  that  it  put  me  into  a 
burning  fever  for  some  few  days,  whereof  (I  thank 
God)  I  am  newly  recovered,  and  finding  no 
opportunity  of  shipping  here  I  must  be  forced  to 
turn  my  intended  sea  voyage  to  a  long  land 
journey. 

Since  I  came  to  this  province  I  was  curious  to 
converse  with  some  of  the  lower  Bretons  who  speak 
no  other  language  but  our  Welsh,  for  their  radical 
words  are  no  other,  but  'tis  no  wonder,  for  they 
were  a  colony  of  Welsh  at  first,  as  the  name  of  this 
province  doth  imply,  as  also  the  Latin  name 
Armorica,  which  though  it  pass  for  Latin,  yet  it  is 
but  pure  Welsh,  and  signifies  a  country  bordering 
upon  the  sea,  as  that  arch  heretic  was  called  Pela- 
gius,a  Pelago,  his  name  beingMorgan.  I  was  a  little 
curious  to  peruse  the  annals  of  this  province,  and 
during  the  time  that  it  was  a  kingdom  there  were 
four  kings  of  the  name  Hoell,  whereof  one  was 
called  Hoell  the  Great. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  S5 

This  town  of  Saint  Malo  hath  one  rarity  in  it, 
for  there  is  here  a  perpetual  garrison  of  EngHsh, 
but  they  are  of  EngHsh  dogs,  which  are  let  out  in 
the  night  to  guard  the  ships,  and  eat  the  carrion 
up  and  down  the  streets,  and  so  they  are  shut  up 
again  in  the  morning. 

It  will  be  now  a  good  while  before  I  shall  have 
convenience  to  send  to  you  or  receive  from  you. 
Howsoever,  let  me  retain  still  some  little  room  in 
your  memory,  and  some  time  in  your  meditations, 
while  I  carry  you  about  me  perpetually,  not  only 
in  my  head,  but  in  heart,  and  make  you  travel  all 
along  with  me  thus  from  town  to  country,  from 
hill  to  dale,  from  sea  to  land,  up  and  down  the 
world.  And  you  must  be  contented  to  be  subject 
to  these  uncertain  removes  and  perambulations, 
until  it  shall  please  God  to  fix  me  again  in  Eng- 
land. Nor  need  you,  while  you  are  thus  my  con- 
comitant through  new  places  every  day,  to  fear 
any  ill-usage  as  long  as  I  fare  well.  —  Yours 
)(pT](TeL  /cat  KTijcreL,  J.  H. 

St.  Malo,  25  of  September  1620. 

••J 

XXI 

'To  Sir  yofm  North,  Knight;  from  Roc  he  He 

I  AM  newly  come  to  Rochelle,  nor  am  I  sorry 
that  I  went  somewhat  out  of  my  way  to  see 
this  town,  not  (to  tell  you  true)  out  of  any  extra- 
ordinary love  I  bear  to  the  people  ;   for  I  do  not 


S6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

find  them  so  gentle  and  debonair  to  strangers,  nor 
so  hospitable  as  the  rest  of  France,  but  I  excuse 
them  for  it,  in  regard  it  is  commonly  so  with  all 
republic  and  Hans  towns,  whereof  this  smells  very 
rank;  nor  indeed  hath  any  Englishman  much 
cause  to  love  this  town,  in  regard  in  ages  past  she 
played  the  most  treacherous  part  with  England  of 
any  other  place  in  France.  For  the  story  tells  us 
that  this  town,  having  by  a  perfidious  stratagem 
(by  forging  a  counterfeit  commission  from  Eng- 
land) induced  the  English  governor  to  make  a 
general  muster  of  all  his  forces  out  of  the  town, 
this  being  one  day  done,  they  shut  their  gates 
against  him,  and  made  him  go  shake  his  ears,  and 
to  shift  for  his  lodging,  and  so  rendered  themselves 
to  the  French  king,  who  sent  them  a  blank  to 
write  their  own  conditions.  I  think  they  have  the 
strongest  ramparts  by  sea  of  any  place  of  Christen- 
dom, nor  have  I  seen  the  like  in  any  town  of 
Holland,  whose  safety  depends  upon  water.  1  am 
bound  to-morrow  for  Bordeaux,  then  through 
Gascony  to  Toulouse,  so  through  Languidoc  over 
the  hills  to  Spain.  I  go  in  the  best  season  of  the 
year,  for  I  make  an  autumnal  journey  of  it.  I 
pray  let  your  prayers  accompany  me  all  along. 
They  are  the  best  officers  of  love  and  fruits  of 
friendship.  So  God  prosper  you  at  home,  as  me 
abroad,  and  send  us  in  good  time  a  joyful  conjunc- 
ture. —  Yours,  J.  H. 
Rochelle,  8  of  October  1620. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  57 

XXII 

To  Mr  Tho.  Poi'ter^  after  Capt.  Porter ; 
from  Barcelona 

My  dear  Tom, 

I  HAD  no  sooner  set  foot  upon  this  soil  and 
breathed  Spanish  air  but  my  thoughts  presently 
reflected  upon  you.  Of  all  my  friends  in  England, 
you  were  the  first  I  met  here  ;  you  were  the  prime 
object  of  my  speculation.  Methought  the  very 
winds  in  gentle  whispers  did  breathe  out  your 
name  and  blow  it  on  me.  You  seemed  to  rever- 
berate upon  me  with  the  beams  of  the  sun,  which 
you  know  hath  such  a  powerful  influence,  and,  in- 
deed, too  great  a  stroke  in  this  country.  And  all 
this  you  must  ascribe  to  the  operations  of  love, 
which  hath  such  a  strong  virtual  force  that  when 
it  fasteneth  upon  a  pleasing  subject,  it  sets  the  im- 
agination in  a  strange  fit  of  working;  it  employs 
all  the  faculties  of  the  soul,  so  that  not  one  cell  in 
the  brain  is  idle  ;  it  busieth  the  whole  inward  man, 
it  affects  the  heart,  amuseth  the  understanding,  it 
quickeneth  the  fancy,  and  leads  the  will  as  it  were 
by  a  silken  thread  to  co-operate  with  them  all.  I 
have  felt  these  motions  often  in  me,  especially  at 
this  time,  that  my  memory  fixed  upon  you.  But 
the  reason  that  I  fell  first  upon  you  in  Spain  was 
that  I  remembered  I  had  heard  you  often  discours- 
ing how  you  have  received  part  of  your  education 
here,  which  brought  you  to  speak  the  language  so 


58  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

exactly  well  :  I  think  often  of  the  relations  I  have 
heard  you  make  of  this  country  and  the  good  in- 
structions you  pleased  to  give  me. 

I  am  now  in  Barcelona,  but  the  next  week  I 
intend  to  go  on  through  your  town  of  Valencia 
to  Alicante,  and  thence  you  shall  be  sure  to  hear 
from  me  further,  for  I  make  account  to  winter 
there.  The  Duke  of  Ossuna  passed  by  here  lately, 
and  having  got  leave  of  grace  to  release  some 
slaves,  he  went  aboard  the  Cape  Gallic,  and  pass- 
ing through  the  churma  of  slaves,  he  asked  divers 
of  them  what  their  offences  were.  Everyone  ex- 
cused himself,  one  saying  that  he  was  put  in  out 
of  malice,  another  by  bribery  of  the  judge,  but  all 
of  them  unjustly.  Amongst  the  rest  there  was  one 
sturdy  little  black  man,  and  the  duke  asking  him 
what  he  was  in  for,  "  Sir, "  said  he,  "I  cannot  deny 
but  I  am  justly  put  in  here,  for  I  wanted  money, 
and  so  took  a  purse  hard  by  Tarragona  to  keep 
me  from  starving."  The  duke  with  a  little  staff 
he  had  in  his  hand  gave  him  two  or  three  blows 
upon  the  shoulders,  saying,  "  You  rogue,  what  do 
you  do  amongst  so  many  honest,  innocent  men  ? 
Get  you  gone  out  of  their  company."  So  he  was 
freed,  and  the  rest  remained  still  in  statu  quo  primus 
to  tug  at  the  oar. 

I  pray  commend  me  to  Signior  Camillo  and 
Mazalao,  with  the  rest  of  the  Venetians  with  you, 
and  when  you  go  aboard  the  ship  behind  the  ex- 
change, think  upon  yours,  J.  H. 

Barcelona,  lo  of  November  1620. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  59 

XXIII 

To  Sir  'Jatnes  Crofts 

I  AM  now  a  good  way  within  the  body  of  Spain 
at  Barcelona,  a  proud  wealthy  city,  situated 
upon  the  Mediterranean,  and  is  the  metropolis  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Catalonia,  called  of  old  Hispania 
Tarraconensis.  I  had  much  ado  to  reach  hither, 
for  besides  the  monstrous  abruptness  of  the  way, 
these  parts  of  the  Pyrenese  that  border  upon  the 
Mediterranean  are  never  without  thieves  by  land 
(called  bandeleros)  and  pirates  on  the  seaside, 
which  lie  skulking  in  the  hollows  of  the  rocks,  and 
often  surprise  passengers  unawares  and  carry  them 
slav^es  to  Barbarv  on  the  other  side.  The  safest  way 
to  pass  is  to  take  a  Bordon  in  the  habit  of  a  pilgrim, 
whereof  there  are  an  abundance  that  perform  their 
vows  this  way  to  the  Lady  of  Monserrat,  one  of  the 
prime  places  of  pilgrimage  in  Christendom.  It  is 
a  stupendous  monastery,  built  on  the  top  of  a  huge 
land  rock,  whither  it  is  impossible  to  go  up  or  come 
down  by  a  direct  way,  but  a  path  is  cut  out  full 
of  windings  and  turnings  ;  and  on  the  crown  of 
this  craggy  hill  there  is  a  flat,  upon  which  the 
monastery  and  pilgrimage  place  is  founded,  where 
there  is  a  picture  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  sunburnt 
and  tanned,  it  seems,  when  she  went  to  Egypt; 
and  to  this  picture  a  marvellous  confluence  of 
people  from  all  parts  of  Europe  resort. 


6o  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

As  I  passed  between  some  of  the  Pyrenese  hills 
I  observed  the  poor  Labradors.  Some  of  the 
country  people  live  no  better  than  brute  animals 
in  point  of  food,  for  their  ordinary  commons  is 
grass  and  water,  only  they  have  always  within 
their  houses  a  bottle  of  vinegar  and  another  of 
oil,  and  when  dinner  or  supper  time  comes,  they 
go  abroad  and  gather  their  herbs  and  so  cast 
vinegar  and  oil  upon  them,  and  will  pass  thus 
two  or  three  days  without  bread  or  wine,  yet  are 
they  strong,  lusty  men,  and  will  stand  stiffly  under 
a  musket. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  there  were  divers  mines 
of  gold  in  ages  past  amongst  those  mountains.  And 
the  shepherds  that  kept  goats  then,  having  made  a 
small  fire  of  rosemary  stubs,  with  other  combustible 
stuff  to  warm  themselves,  this  fire  grazed  along, 
and  grew  so  outrageous,  that  it  consumed  the  very 
entrails  of  the  earth  and  melted  those  mines,  which 
growing  fluid  by  liquefaction  ran  down  into  the 
small  rivulets  that  were  in  the  valleys,  and  so 
carried  all  into  the  sea,  that  monstrous  gulf  which 
swalloweth  all,  but  seldom  disgorges  anything; 
and  in  these  brooks  to  this  day  some  small  grains 
of  gold  are  found. 

The  vicerov  of  this  country  hath  taken  much 
pains  to  clear  these  hills  of  robbers,  and  there  hath 
been  a  notable  havoc  made  of  them  this  year ;  for 
in  divers  woods  as  I  passed  I  might  spv  some  trees 
laden  with  dead  carcases,  a  better  fruit  far  than 
Diogenes' tree  bore,  whereon  a  woman  had  hanged 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  6i 

herself,  which  the  cynic  cried  out  to  be  the  best 
bearing  tree  that  ever  he  saw. 

In  this  place  there  lives  neither  English  mer- 
chant or  factor,  which  I  wonder  at,  considering 
that  it  is  a  maritime  town,  and  one  of  the  greatest 
in  Spain  ;  her  chiefest  arsenal  for  galleys,  and  the 
scale  by  which  she  conveys  her  monies  to  Italy; 
but  I  believe  the  reason  is  that  there  is  no  com- 
modious port  here  for  ships  of  any  burthen  but  a 
large  bay.  I  will  enlarge  myself  no  further  at  this 
time,  but  leave  you  to  the  guard  and  guidance  of 
God,  whose  sweet  hand  of  protection  hath  brought 
me  through  so  many  uncouth  places  and  difficul- 
ties to  this  city. — So  hoping  to  meet  your  letters 
in  iVlicante,  where  I  shall  anchor  a  good  while,  I 
rest  yours  to  dispose  of, 

J.  H. 

Barcelona,  24  November  1620. 

XXIV 

T^o  Dr  Fr.  Manse// ;  Jrom  Va/encia 

THOUGH  it  be  the  same  glorious  sun  that 
shines  upon  you  in  England,  which  illu- 
minates also  this  part  of  the  hemisphere,  though 
it  be  the  sun  that  ripeneth  your  pippins  and 
our  pomegranates  ;  your  hops  and  our  vineyards 
here,  yet  he  dispenseth  his  heat  in  different  de- 
grees of  strength  ;  those  rays  that  do  but  warm 
you   in    England,  do   half  roast   us    here;    those 


6i  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

beams  that  irradiate  only  and  gild  your  honey- 
suckled  fields,  do  scorch  and  parch  this  chinky 
gaping  soil,  and  so  put  too  many  wrinkles  upon 
the  face  of  our  common  Mother  the  Earth.  O 
blessed  clime,  O  happy  England,  where  there  is 
such  a  rare  temperature  of  heat  and  cold,  and  all 
the  rest  of  elementary  qualities,  that  one  may  pass 
(and  suffer  little)  all  the  year  long  without  either 
shade  in  summer  or  fire  In  winter. 

I  am  now  in  Valencia,  one  of  the  noblest  cities 
of  all  Spain,  situate  in  a  large  vegue  or  valley, 
above  three  score  miles  compass.  Here  are  the 
strongest  silks,  the  sweetest  wines,  the  excellentest 
almonds,  the  best  oils,  and  beautifulest  females  of 
all  Spain,  for  the  prime  courtesans  in  Madrid  and 
elsewhere  are  had  hence.  The  very  brute  animals 
make  themselves  beds  of  rosemary  and  other  fra- 
grant flowers  hereabouts  ;  and  when  one  is  at  sea, 
if  the  wind  blow  from  the  shore,  he  may  smell  this 
soil  before  he  come  in  sight  of  it  many  leagues 
off,  by  the  strong  odoriferous  scent  it  casts.  As  it 
is  the  most  pleasant,  so  it  is  also  the  temperatest 
clime  of  all  Spain,  and  they  commonly  call  it  the 
second  Italy,  which  made  the  Moors,  whereof 
many  thousands  were  disterred  and  banished  hence 
to  Barbary,  to  think  that  paradise  was  in  that 
part  of  the  heavens  which  hung  over  this  City. 
Some  twelve  miles  off  is  old  Sagunto,  called 
now  Morviedre,  through  which  I  passed,  and  saw 
many  monuments  of  Roman  antiquities  there : 
amongst  others  there  is  the  temple  dedicated  to 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  63 

Venus,  where  the  snake  came  about  her  neck,  a 
little  before  Hannibal  came  thither.  No  more 
now,  but  that  I  heartily  wish  you  were  here  with 
me,  and  I  believe  you  would  not  desire  to  be  a 
good  while  in  England.  —  So  I  am,  your 

J.  H. 
Valencia,  i  of  March  1620. 


XXV 

T^o  Christopher  Jones,  Esq.,  at  Gray  s  Inn 

I  AM  now  (thanks  be  to  God)  come  to  Alicante, 
the  chief  rendevouz  I  aimed  at  in  Spain  ;  for  I 
am  to  send  hence  a  commodity  called  barillia  to  Sir 
Robert  Mansell  for  making  of  crystal  glass,  and 
I  have  treated  with  Signor  Andriotti,  a  Genoa 
merchant,  for  a  good  round  parcel  of  it,  to  the  value 
of  ;£"aooo,  by  letters  of  credit  from  Master  Richant, 
and  upon  his  credit,  I  might  have  taken  many 
thousand  pounds  more,  he  is  so  well  known  in  the 
kingdom  of  Valencia.  This  barillia  is  a  strange 
kind  of  vegetable,  and  it  grows  nowhere  upon  the 
surface  of  the  earth  in  that  perfection  as  here. 
The  Venetians  have-  it  hence,  and  it  is  a  commod- 
ity whereby  this  maritime  town  doth  partly  sub- 
sist, for  it  is  an  ingredient  that  goes  to  the  making 
of  the  best  Castile  soap.  It  grows  thus  :  It  is  a 
round  thick  earthy  shrub  that  bears  berries  like 
barberries,  but  'twixt  blue  and  green.  It  lies  close 
to  the  ground,  and  when  it  is  ripe  they  dig  it  up 


64  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

by  the  roots,  and  put  it  together  in  cocks,  where 
they  leave  it  to  dry  many  days  like  hay,  then  they 
make  a  pit  of  a  fathom  deep  in  the  earth,  and  with 
an  instrument  like  one  of  our  prongs  they  take 
the  tufts  and  put  fire  to  them,  and  when  the  flame 
comes  to  the  berries  they  melt,  and  dissolve  into 
an  azure  liquor,  and  fall  down  into  the  pit  till  it 
be  full ;  then  they  dam  it  up,  and  some  days  after 
they  open  it,  and  find  this  barillia  juice  turned  to 
a  blue  stone,  so  hard  that  it  is  scarce  malleable. 
It  is  sold  at  one  hundred  crowns  a  ton,  but  I  had 
it  for  less.  There  is  also  a  spurious  flower  called 
gazull  that  grows  here,  but  the  glass  that  is  made 
of  that  is  not  so  resplendent  and  clear.  I  have  been 
here  now  these  three  months,  and  most  of  my 
food  has  been  grapes  and  bread,  with  other  roots, 
which  have  made  me  so  fat  that  I  think  if  you  saw 
me  you  would  hardly  know  me,  such  nourriture 
this  deep  Sanguin  Alicante  grape  gives.  I  have 
not  received  a  syllable  from  you  since  I  was  in 
Antwerp,  which  transforms  me  to  wonder,  and  en- 
genders odd  thoughts  of  jealousy  in  me,  that  as  my 
body  grows  fatter  your  love  grows  lanker  towards 
me.  I  pray  take  ofi^  these  scruples,  and  let  me  hear 
from  you,  else  it  will  make  a  schism  in  friendship, 
which  I  hold  to  be  a  very  holy  league,  and  no  less 
than  a  piacle  to  infringe  it ;  in  which  opinion  I 
rest,  your  constant  friend, 

J.  H. 
Alicante,  March  27,  1621. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  6^ 

XXVI 

To  Sir  '^ohn  North,  Knight 

HAVING  endured  the  brunt  of  a  whole  sum- 
mer in  Spain, and  tried  the  temper  of  all  the 
other  three  seasons  of  the  year  up  and  down  the 
kingdoms  of  Catalonia,  Valencia,  and  Mercia,  with 
some  parts  of  Aragon,  I  am  now  to  direct  my 
course  for  Italy.  I  hoped  to  have  embarked  at 
Carthagena,  the  best  port  upon  the  Mediterranean, 
for  what  ships  and  galleys  get  in  thither  are  shut 
up,  as  it  were,  in  a  box  from  the  violence  and  in- 
jury of  all  weathers,  which  made  Andrea  Doria, 
being  asked  by  Philip  the  Second  which  were  his 
best  harbours,  he  answered,  "June,  July,  and 
Carthagena,"  meaning  that  any  port  is  good  in 
those  two  months,  but  Carthagena  was  good  any 
time  of  the  year.  There  was  a  most  ruthful  acci- 
dent had  happened  there  a  little  before  I  came,  for 
whereas  five  ships  had  gone  thence  laden  with 
soldiers  for  Naples,  amongst  whom  there  was  the 
flower  of  the  gentry  of  the  kingdom  of  Mercia, 
those  ships  had  hardly  sailed  three  leagues  but 
they  met  with  sixteen  sails  of  Algiers,  men-of- 
war,  who  had  lain  skulking  in  the  creeks  there- 
about, and  they  had  the  winds  and  all  things  else 
so  favourable,  that  of  those  five  ships  they  took 
one,  sunk  another,  and  burnt  a  third,  and  two  fled 
back  to  safe   harbour.    The  report  hereof  being 


66  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

bruited  up  and  down  the  country,  the  gentle- 
women came  from  the  country  to  have  tidings, 
some  of  their  children,  others  of  their  brothers 
and  kindred,  and  went  tearing  their  hair  and 
howling  up  and  down  the  streets  in  a  most  pite- 
ous manner.  The  admiral  of  those  five  ships, 
as  I  heard  afterwards,  was  sent  for  to  Madrid, 
and  hanged  at  the  court  gate  because  he  did  not 
fight.  Had  I  come  time  enough  to  have  taken 
the  opportunity,  I  might  have  been  made  either 
food  for  haddocks  or  turned  to  cinders,  or  have 
been  by  this  time  a  slave  in  the  bannier  at  Algiers, 
or  tugging  at  an  oar  ;  but  I  hope  God  hath  re- 
served me  for  a  better  destiny.  So  I  came  back  to 
Alicante,  where  I  lighted  upon  a  lusty  Dutchman, 
who  hath  carried  me  safe  hither,  but  we  were  near 
upon  forty  days  in  voyage.  We  passed  by  Majorca 
and  Minorca,  the  Baleares  Insulae,  by  some  ports  of 
Barbary,  by  Sardinia,  Corsica,  and  all  the  islands 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  We  were  at  the  mouth 
of  Tiber,  and  thence  fetched  our  course  for  Sicily. 
We  passed  by  those  sulphurous,  fiery  islands, 
Mongibeland  Strombolo,  and  about  the  dawn  of 
the  day  we  shot  through  Scyllaand  Carybdis,  and 
so  into  the  phare  of  Messina :  thence  we  touched 
upon  some  of  the  Greek  islands,  and  so  came  to 
our  first  intended  course,  into  the  Venetian  Gulf, 
and  are  now  here  at  Malamocca,  where  we  remain 
yet  aboard,  and  must  be  content  to  be  so,  to  make 
up  the  month  before  we  have  "  pratic,"  that  is, 
before  any  be  permitted  to  go  ashore  and  negotiate. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  67 

in  regard  we  touched  at  some  infected  places  ;  for 
there  are  no  people  upon  earth  so  fearful  of 
the  plague  as  the  Italians,  especially  the  Venetians, 
though  their  neighbours  the  Greeks  hard  by,  and 
the  Turks,  have  little  or  no  apprehension  at  all  of 
the  danger  of  it,  for  they  will  visit  and  commerce 
with  the  sick  without  any  scruple,  and  will  fix 
their  longest  finger  in  the  midst  of  their  forehead 
and  say  their  destiny  and  manner  of  death  is 
pointed  there.  When  we  have  gained  yonder 
maiden  city  which  lieth  before  us  you  shall  hear 
farther  from  me  ;  so  leaving  you  to  His  holy  pro- 
tection who  hath  thus  graciously  vouchsafed  to 
preserve  this  ship  and  me  in  so  long  and  danger- 
ous a  voyage,  I  rest,  yours, 

J.H. 

Malamocca,  Jpril  the  30,  1621. 

xxvn 

To  my  Brother,  Dr  Howell ;  from  a  Shipboard 
before  Venice 

Brother, 

IF  this  letter  fail  either  in  point  of  orthography 
or  style,  you  must  impute  the  first  to  the 
tumbling  posture  my  body  was  in  at  the  writing 
hereof,  being  a  shipboard,  the  second  the  muddi- 
ness  of  my  brain,  which  like  lees  in  a  narrow  ves- 
sel, hath  been   shaken   at  sea  in  divers   tempests 


68  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

near  upon  forty  days,  I  mean  natural  days,  which 
include  the  nights  also,  and  are  composed  of  four 
and  twenty  hours,  by  which  number  the  Italian 
computes  his  time,  and  tells  his  clock,  for  at  the 
writing  hereof,  I  heard  one  from  Malamocca  strike 
one  and  twenty  hours.  When  I  shall  have  saluted 
yonder  virgin  city  that  stands  before  me,  and  hath 
tantalised  me  now  this  sennight,  I  hope  to  cheer 
my  spirits,  and  settle  my  pericranium  again. 

In  this  voyage  we  passed  through,  at  least 
touched,  all  those  seas,  which  Horace  and  other 
poets  sing  of  so  often,  as  the  Ionian,  the  yEgean, 
the  Icarian,  the  Tyrrhene,  with  others,  and  now 
we  are  in  the  Adrian  Sea,  in  the  mouth  whereof 
Venice  stands  like  a  gold  ring  in  a  bear's  muzzle. 
We  passed  also  by  T^itna,  by  the  infames  Scopulos, 
Acroceraunia^  and  through  Scylla  and  Charybdis, 
about  which  the  ancient  poets,  both  Greek  and 
Latin,  keep  such  a  coil,  but  they  are  nothing  so 
horrid  or  dangerous,  as  they  make  them  to  be  : 
they  are  two  white  keen-pointed  rocks,  that  lie 
under  water  diametrically  opposed,  and  like  two 
dragons  defying  one  another,  and  there  are  pilots, 
that  in  small  shallops,  are  ready  to  steer  all  ships 
that  pass.  This  amongst  divers  other,  may  serve 
for  an  instance  that  the  old  poets  used  to  heighten 
and  hoist  up  things  by  their  airy  fancies  above  the 
reality  of  truth,  ^^tna  was  very  furious  when  we 
passed  by  as  she  useth  to  be  sometimes  more  than 
other,  specially  when  the  wind  is  southward,  for 
then  she  is  more  subject  to  belching  out  flakes  of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  69 

fire  (as  stutterers  use  to  stammer  more  when  the 
wind  is  in  that  hole)  ;  some  of  the  sparkles  fell 
aboard  of  us,  but  they  would  make  us  believe  in 
Syracuse,  now  Messina,  that  iEtna  in  times  passed 
hath  eructated  such  huge  gobbets  of  fire,  that  the 
sparks  of  them  have  burnt  houses  in  Malta,  above 
fifty  miles  off,  transported  thither  by  a  direct 
strong  wind.  We  passed  hard  by  Corinth,  now 
Ragusa,  but  I  was  not  so  happy  as  to  touch  there, 
for  you  know 

Non  cuivis  homini  contingit  adire  Corinthum. 

I  conversed  with  many  Greeks  but  found  none 
that  could  understand,  much  less  practically  speak 
any  of  the  old  dialects  of  the  pristine  Greek,  it  is  so 
adulterated  by  the  vulgar,  as  a  bed  of  flowers  by 
weeds,  nor  is  there  any  people,  either  in  the 
islands  or  on  the  Continent,  that  speaks  it  con- 
versably,  yet  there  are  in  the  Morea  seven  parishes 
called  Zacones,  where  the  original  Greek  is  not 
much  degenerated,  but  they  confound  divers  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet  with  one  sound,  for  in  point 
of  pronunciation  there  is  no  difference  'twixt  Up- 
silon,  Iota,  and  Eta. 

The  last  I  received  from  you  was  in  Latin, 
whereof  I  sent  you  an  answer  from  Spain  in  the 
same  language,  though  in  a  coarser  dialect.  I  shall 
be  a  guest  to  Venice  a  good  while,  therefore  I  de- 
sire a  frequency  of  correspondence  between  us  by 
letters,  for  there  will  be  conveniency  every  week 
of  receiving   and    sending ;    when   you   write   to 


70  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

Wales,  I  pray  send  advice,  that  I  am  come  safe  to 
Italy,  though  not  landed  there  yet.  So  my  dear 
brother,  I  pray  God  bless  us  both,  and  all  our 
friends,  and  reserve  me  to  see  you  again  with  com- 
fort, and  you  me,  who  am  your  loving  brother, 

J.  H. 
May  the  5,  1621. 

XXVIII 

To  the  Honourable  Sir  Robert  Manseil,  Vice- 
Admiral  of  England ;  from  Venice 

AS  soon  as  I  came  to  Venice,  I  applied  myself 
to  dispatch  your  business  according  to  in- 
structions, and  Mr  Seymor  was  ready  to  contrib- 
ute his  best  furtherance.  These  two  Italians  who 
are  the  bearers  hereof,  by  report  here,  are  the  best 
gentlemen-workmen  that  ever  blew  crystal,  one  is 
allied  to  Antonio  Miotti,  the  other  is  cousin  to 
Mazalao  ;  for  other  things  they  shall  be  sent  in 
the  ship  Lion^  which  rides  here  at  Malamocca,  as 
I  shall  send  you  account  by  conveyance  of  Mr 
Symns.  Herewith  I  have  sent  a  letter  to  you  from 
Sir  Henry  Wotton,  the  Lord  Ambassador  here,  of 
whom  I  have  received  some  favours.  He  wished 
me  to  write,  that  you  have  now  a  double  interest 
in  him  ;  for  whereas  before  he  was  only  your  ser- 
vant, he  is  now  your  kinsman  by  your  late  mar- 
riage. 

I  was  lately  to  see  the  arsenal  of  Venice,  one  of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  71 

the  worthiest  things  of  Christendom  ;  they  say- 
there  are  as  many  galleys,  and  galeasses  of  all  sorts, 
belonging  to  Saint  Mark,  either  in  course,  at  an- 
chor, in  dock,  or  upon  the  carine,  as  there  be  days 
in  the  year  ;  here  they  can  build  a  complete  galley 
in  half  a  day,  and  put  her  afloat  in  perfect  equip- 
age, having  all  the  ingredients  fitted  before-hand, 
as  they  did  in  three  hours,  when  Henry  the  Third 
passed  this  way  to  France  from  Poland,  who 
wished,  that  besides  Paris  and  his  parliament 
towns,  he  had  this  arsenal  in  exchange  for  three 
of  his  chiefest  cities.  There  are  three  hundred 
people  perpetually  here  at  work,  and  if  one  comes 
young  and  grows  old  in  Saint  Mark's  service,  he 
hath  a  pension  from  the  State  during  life.  Being 
brought  to  see  one  of  the  Clarissimos  that  governs 
this  arsenal,  this  huge  sea  store-house,  amongst 
other  matters  reflecting  upon  England,  he  was 
saying:  "That  if  Cavalier  Don  Roberto  Mansell 
were  now  here,  he  thought  verily  the  republic 
would  make  a  profiler  to  him  to  be  admiral  of  that 
fleet  of  galleys  and  galleons,  which  are  now  going 
against  the  Duke  of  Ossuna  and  the  forces  of 
Naples,"  you  are  so  well  known  here. 

I  was,  since  I  came  hither,  in  Murano,  a  little 
island  about  the  distance  of  Lambeth  from  Lon- 
don, where  crystal  glass  is  made,  and  it  is  a  rare 
sight  to  see  a  whole  street,  where  on  the  one  side 
there  are  twenty  furnaces  together  at  work.  They 
say  here  that  although  one  should  transplant  a 
glass-furnace  from   Murano  to  Venice  herself,  or 


72  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

to  any  of  the  little  assembly  of  islands  about  her, 
or  to  any  other  part  of  the  earth  besides,  and  use 
the  same  materials,  the  same  workmen,  the  same 
fuel,  the  self-same  ingredients  every  way,  yet  they 
cannot  make  crystal  glass  in  that  perfection,  for 
beauty  and  lustre,  as  in  Murano.  Some  impute  it 
to  the  quality  of  the  circumambient  air  that  hangs 
over  the  place,  which  is  purified  and  attenuated 
by  the  concurrence  of  so  many  fires  that  are  in 
those  furnaces  night  and  day  perpetually,  for  they 
are  like  the  vestal  fire  which  never  goes  out.  And 
it  is  well  known  that  some  airs  make  more  quali- 
fying impressions  than  others,  as  a  Greek  told  me 
in  Sicily  of  the  air  of  Egypt,  where  there  be  huge 
common  furnaces  to  hatch  eggs  by  the  thousands 
in  camel's  dung;  for,  during  the  time  of  hatching 
if  the  air  happen  to  come  to  be  overcast  and  grow 
cloudy,  it  spoils  all ;  if  the  sky  continue  still, 
serene,  and  clear,  not  one  egg  in  a  hundred  will 
miscarry. 

1  met  with  Camillo,  your  Consaorman^  here 
lately,  and  could  he  be  sure  of  entertainment,  he 
would  return  to  serve  you  again,  and,  I  believe, 
for  less  salary. 

I  shall  attend  your  commands  herein  by  the 
next,  and  touching  other  particulars,  whereof  I 
have  written  to  Captain  Bacon.  So  I  rest,  your 
most  humble  and  ready  servant, 

J.  H. 

Venice,  May  the  30,  1621. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  73 

XXIX 

To  my  Brother;  frof?i  Venice 

Brother, 

1  FOUND  a  letter  of  yours  that  had  lain  dor- 
mant here  a  good  while  in  Mr  Symns'  hands, 
to  welcome  me  to  Venice,  and  I  thank  you  for  the 
variety  of  news  wherewith  she  went  freighted ;  for 
she  was  to  me  as  a  ship  richly  laden  from  London 
used  to  be  to  our  merchants  here,  and  I  esteem  her 
cargozan  at  no  less  a  value,  for  she  enriched  me 
with  the  knowledge  of  my  father's  health  and 
your  own,  with  the  rest  of  my  brothers  and  sisters 
in  the  country,  with  divers  other  passages  of  con- 
tentment ;  besides,  she  went  also  ballasted  with 
your  good  instructions,  which,  as  merchants  used 
to  do  of  their  commodities,  I  will  turn  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  Italy  is  no  ill  market  to  improve 
anything.  The  only  proceed  (that  I  may  use  the 
mercantile  term)  you  can  expect  is  thanks,  and 
this  way  I  shall  not  be  wanting  to  make  you  rich 
returns. 

Since  I  came  to  this  town  I  dispatched  sundry 
businesses  of  good  value  for  Sir  Robert  Mansel, 
which  I  hope  will  give  content.  The  art  of  glass- 
making  here  is  very  highly  valued  ;  for,  whosoever 
be  of  that  profession  are  gentlemen  ipso  facto,  and 
it  is  not  without  reason  ;  it  being  a  rare  kind  of 
knowledge  and  chemistry  to  transmute  dust  and 


74  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

sand  (for  they  are  the  only  main  ingredients)  to 
such  a  diaphanous  pellucid  dainty  body  as  you  see 
a  crystal  glass  is,  which  hath  this  property  above 
gold  or  silver  or  any  other  mineral,  to  admit  no 
poison  ;  as  also  that  it  never  wastes  or  loses  a  whit 
of  its  first  weight,  though  you  use  it  never  so 
long.  When  I  saw  so  many  sorts  of  curious 
glasses  made  here  I  thought  upon  the  compliment 
which  a  gentleman  put  upon  a  lady  in  England, 
who  having  five  or  six  comely  daughters,  said 
he  never  saw  in  his  life  such  a  dainty  cupboard 
of  crystal  glasses  ;  the  compliment  proceeds,  it 
seems,  from  a  saying  they  have  here,  "  That 
the  first  handsome  woman  that  ever  was  made, 
was  made  of  Venice  glass,"  which  implies  beauty, 
but  brittleness  withal  (and  Venice  is  not  un- 
furnished with  some  of  that  mould,  for  no  place 
abounds  more  with  lasses  and  glasses).  But 
when  I  pried  into  the  materials,  and  observed 
the  furnaces  and  the  calcinations,  the  transub- 
stantiations,  the  liquefactions  that  are  incident  to 
this  art,  my  thoughts  were  raised  to  a  higher 
speculation  :  that  if  this  small  furnace-fire  hath 
virtue  to  convert  such  a  small  lump  of  dark  dust 
and  sand  into  such  a  precious  clear  body  as  crys- 
tal, surely  that  grand  universal  fire  which  shall  hap- 
pen at  the  day  of  judgment,  may  by  its  violent 
ardour  vitrify  and  turn  to  one  lump  of  crystal  the 
whole  body  of  the  earth,  nor  am  I  the  first  that  fell 
upon  this  conceit. 

I  will  enlarge  myself  no  further  to  you  at  this 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  75 

time,   but  conclude  with  this  tetrastic  which  my 
brain  ran  upon  in  my  bed  this  morning. 

Vitrea  sunt  nostrae  commissa  negotia  curae 
Hoc  oculis  speculum  mittimus  ergo  tuis  : 

Quod  speculum  ?  est  instar  speculi  mea  litera,  per  quod 
Vivida  fraterni  cordis  imago  nitet. 

Adieu,  my  dear  brother,  live  happily  and  love 
your  brother,  J.  H. 

Venice,  the  i  of  June  162,1. 

XXX 

To  Mr  Richard  Alt  ham  at  Gray' s  Inn ;  from 
Venice 

Gentle  Sir, 

O  dulcior  illo 

Mille  quod  in  ceris  Attica  ponit  apis. 

O  thou  who  dost  in  sweetness  far  excel. 
That  juice  the  Attic  bee  stores  in  her  cell. 

My  dear  Dick, 

I  HAVE  now  a  good  while  since  taken  foot- 
ing in  Venice,  this  admired  maiden  city,  so 
called  because  she  was  never  deflowered  by  any 
enemy  since  she  had  a  being,  not  since  her  Rialto 
was  first  erected,  which  is  now  above  twelve  ages 
ago. 

I  protest  unto  you  at  my  first  landing  I  was  iox 
some  days  ravished  with  the  high  beauty  of  this 
maid,  with  her  lovely  countenance.  I  admired  her 
magnificent  buildings,  her  marvellous  situation,  her 


76  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

dainty  smooth  neat  streets,  whereon  you  may  walk 
most  days  in  the  year  in  a  silk  stocking  and  satin 
slippers,  without  soiling  them,  nor  can  the  streets 
of  Paris  be  so  foul,  as  these  are  fair.  This  beaute- 
ous maid  hath  been  often  attempted  to  be  vitiated  ; 
some  have  courted  her,  some  bribed  her,  some 
would  have  forced  her,  vet  she  hath  still  preserved 
her  chastity  entire  ;  and  though  she  hath  lived  so 
many  ages,  and  passed  so  many  shrewd  brunts, 
yet  she  continueth  fresh  to  this  very  day,  without 
the  least  wrinkle  of  old  age  or  any  symptoms  of 
decay,  whereunto  political  bodies,  as  well  as  natural, 
use  to  be  liable.  Besides  she  hath  wrestled  with 
the  greatest  potentates  upon  earth.  The  Emperor, 
the  King  of  France,  and  most  of  the  other  princes 
of  Christendom,  in  that  famous  league  of  Cambray, 
would  have  sunk  her  ;  but  she  bore  up  still  within 
her  lakes,  and  broke  that  league  to  pieces  by  her 
wit.  The  Grand  Turk  hath  been  often  at  her, 
and  though  he  could  not  have  his  will  of  her,  yet 
he  took  away  the  richest  jewel  she  wore  in  her 
coronet  and  put  it  in  his  turban  —  I  mean  the  king- 
dom of  Cyprus,  the  only  royal  gem  she  had  ; 
he  hath  sat  upon  her  skirts  often  since,  and  though 
she  closed  with  him  sometimes,  yet  she  came  off 
still  with  her  maidenhead,  though  some  that  envy 
her  happiness,  would  brand  her  to  be  of  late  times 
a  kind  of  concubine  to  him,  and  that  she  gives  him 
ready  money  once  a  year  to  lie  with  her,  which 
she  minceth  by  name  of  present,  though  it  be 
indeed  rather  a  tribute. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  77 

I  would  I  had  you  here  with  a  wish,  and  you 
would  not  desire  in  haste  to  be  at  Gray's  Inn, 
though  I  hold  your  walks  to  be  the  pleasantest 
place  about  London  ;  and  that  you  have  there  the 
choicest  society.  I  pray  present  my  kind  commen- 
dations to  all  there,  and  service  at  Bishopsgate 
Street,  and  let  me  hear  from  you  by  the  next  post. 
—  So  I  am,  entirely  yours,  J.  H. 

Venice,  5  June  1621. 


XXXI 

To  Dr  Frank  Manse II ;  from  Venice 


G 


IVE  me  leave  to  salute  you  first  in  these 
sapphics. 

Insulam  tendens  iter  ad  Britannam 
Charta,  de  paucis  volo,  siste  gressum. 
Verba  Mansello,  bene  noscis  ilium, 
Talia  perfer, 

Finibus  longe  patriis  Hoellus 
Dimorans,  quantis  Venetum  superba 
Civitas  leucis  Doroberniensi 

Distat  ab  urbe  ; 

Plurimam  mentis  tibi  vult  salutem, 
Plurium  cordis  tibi  vult  vigorem, 
Plurimum  sortis  tibi  vult  favorem 
Regis  et  Aulae. 

These  wishes  come  to  you  from  Venice,  a  place 


78  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

where  there  is  nothing  wanting  that  heart  can  wish; 
renowned  Venice,  the  admiredst  city  in  the  world, 
a  city  that  all  Europe  is  bound  unto,  for  she  is  her 
greatest  rampart  against  that  huge  eastern  tyrant 
the  Turk  by  sea,  else  I  believe  he  had  overrun  all 
Christendom  by  this  time.  Against  him  this  city 
hath  performed  notable  exploits,  and  not  only 
against  him,  but  divers  other.  She  hath  restored 
emperors  to  their  thrones,  and  popes  to  their  chairs, 
and  with  her  galleys  often  preserved  Saint  Peter's 
barque  from  sinking  :  for  which,  by  way  of  reward, 
one  of  his  successors  espoused  her  to  the  sea,  which 
marriage  is  solemnly  renewed  every  year  in  solemn 
procession  by  the  Doge  and  all  the  Clarissimos, 
and  a  gold  ring  cast  into  the  sea  out  of  the  great 
galleasse,  called  the  Bucentoro^  wherein  the  first 
ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Pope  himself, 
above  three  hundred  years  since,  and  they  say  it  is 
the  self-same  vessel  still,  though  often  put  upon 
the  careen  and  trimmed.  This  made  me  think  on 
that  famous  ship  at  Athens  ;  nay,  I  fell  upon  an 
abstracted  notion  in  philosophy,  and  a  speculation 
touching  the  body  of  man,  which  being  in  perpet- 
ual flux,  and  a  kind  of  succession  of  decays,  and 
consequently  requiring  ever  and  anon  a  restoration 
of  what  it  loseth  of  the  virtue  of  the  former  ailment, 
and  what  was  converted  after  the  third  concoction 
into  blood  and  fleshly  substance,  which,  as  in  all 
other  sublunary  bodies  that  have  internal  princi- 
ples of  heat,  uses  to  transpire,  breathe  out,  and  waste 
away  through  invisible  pores  by  exercise,  motion. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  79 

and  sleep  to  make  room  still  for  a  supply  of  new 
nourriture.  I  fell,  I  say,  to  consider  whether  our 
bodies  may  be  said  to  be  of  like  condition  with  this 
BucentorOj  which,  though  it  be  reputed  still  the 
same  vessel,  yet  I  believe  there  's  not  a  foot  of  that 
timber  remaining  which  it  had  upon  the  first  dock, 
having  been,  as  they  tell  me,  so  often  planked  and 
ribbed,  caulked  and  pieced.  In  like  manner  our 
bodies  may  be  said  to  be  daily  repaired  by  new 
sustenance,  which  begets  new  blood,  and  conse- 
quently new  spirits,  new  humours,  and  I  may  say 
new  flesh,  the  old  by  continual  deperdition  and 
insensible  transpirations  evaporating  still  out  of  us, 
and  giving  way  to  fresh  ;  so  that  I  make  a  ques- 
tion, whether  by  reason  of  these  perpetual  prepara- 
tions and  accretions  the  body  of  man  may  be  said 
to  be  the  same  numerical  body  in  his  old  age  that 
he  had  in  his  manhood,  or  the  same  in  his  manhood 
that  he  had  in  his  youth,  the  same  in  his  youth  that 
he  carried  about  him  in  his  childhood,  or  the  same 
in  his  childhood  which  he  wore  first  in  the  womb. 
I  make  a  doubt  whether  I  had  the  same  identical 
individually  numerical  body  when  I  carried  a  calf- 
leather  satchel  to  school  in  Hereford,  as  when  I 
wore  a  lambskin  hood  in  Oxford,  or  whether  I 
have  the  same  mass  of  blood  in  my  veins,  and  the 
same  flesh  now  in  Venice  which  I  carried  about  me 
three  years  since  up  and  down  London  streets, 
having  in  lieu  of  beer  and  ale  drunk  wine  all  this 
while,  and  fed  upon  different  viands ;  now  the 
stomach  is  like  a  crucible,  for  it  hath  a  chemical 


8o  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

kind  of  virtue  to  transmute  one  body  into  an- 
other, to  transubstantiate  fish  and  fruits  into  flesh 
within,  and  about  us ;  but  though  it  be  questionable 
whether  I  wear  the  same  flesh  which  is  fluxible,  I 
am  sure  my  hair  is  not  the  same,  for  you  may 
remember  I  went  flaxen-haired  out  of  England,  but 
vou  shall  find  me  returned  with  a  very  dark  brown, 
which  I  impute  not  only  to  the  heat  and  air  of 
those  hot  countries  I  have  eat  my  bread  in,  but  to 
the  quality  and  diflrerence  of  food;  but  you  will 
say  that  hair  is  but  an  excrementitious  thing,  and 
makes  not  to  this  purpose;  moreover,  methinks  I 
hear  you  say  that  this  may  be  true,  only  in  the 
blood  and  spirits,  or  such  fluid  parts,  not  in  the 
solid  and  heterogeneal  parts  ;  but  I  will  press  no 
further  at  this  time  this  philosophical  notion  which 
the  fight  o(  Bucentoro  infused  into  me,  for  it  hath 
already  made  me  exceed  the  bounds  of  a  letter, 
and  I  fear  me  to  trespass  too  much  upon  your 
patience.  I  leave  the  further  disquisition  of  this 
point  to  your  own  contemplations,  who  are  a  far 
riper  philosopher  than  I,  and  have  waded  deeper 
into,  and  drunk  more  of  Aristotle's  Well;  but  to 
conclude,  though  it  be  doubtful  whether  I  carry 
about  me  the  same  body  or  no,  in  all  points  that  I 
had  in  England,  I  am  well  assured  I  bear  still  the 
same  mind,  and  therein  I  verify  the  old  verse  — 

Coelum  non  animam  mutant  qui  trans  mare  currunt. 
The  air  but  not  the  mind  they  change. 
Who  in  outlandish  countries  range. 

For  what  alterations  soever  happen  in  this  micro- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  8i 

cosm,  in  this  little  world,  this  small  bulk  and  body 
of  mine,  you  may  be  confident  that  nothing  shall 
alter  my  aflections,  specially  towards  you,  but  that 
I  will  persevere  still  the  same,  the  very  same, 

J.  H. 
Venice,  25  June  1621. 


XXXII 

To  Richard  A  It  ham  ^  Esquire 

1WAS  plunged  in  a  deep  fit  of  melancholy,  Sa- 
turn had  cast  his  black  influence  over  all  my 
intellectuals.  Methought  I  felt  my  heart  as  a 
lump  of  dough,  and  heavy  as  lead  within  mv 
breast;  when  a  letter  of  yours  of  the  3rd  of  this 
month  was  brought  me,  which  presently  begot 
new  spirits  within  me,  and  made  such  strong  im- 
pressions upon  my  intellectuals,  that  it  turned  and 
transformed  me  into  another  man.  I  have  read  of 
a  Duke  of  Milan  and  others,  who  were  poisoned 
by  reading  of  a  letter,  but  yours  produced  con- 
trary effects  in  me ;  it  became  an  antidote,  or 
rather  a  most  sovereign  cordial,  to  me,  more  op- 
erative than  bezoar,  of  more  virtue  than  potable 
gold  or  the  elixir  of  amber,  for  it  wrought  a  sud- 
den cure  upon  me.  That  fiuent  and  rare  mixture 
of  love  and  wit,  which  I  found  up  and  down 
therein,  were  the  ingredients  of  this  cordial  ;  they 
were  as  so  many  choice  flowers,  strewed  here  and 
there,  which  did  cast  such  an   odoriferous  scent, 


82  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

that  they  revived  all  my  senses,  and  dispelled 
those  dull  fumes  which  had  formerly  overclouded 
my  brain.  Such  was  the  operation  of  your  most 
ingenious  and  affectionate  letter,  and  so  sweet  an 
entertainment  it  gave  me.  If  your  letter  had  that 
virtue,  what  would  your  person  have  done  ?  And 
did  you  know  all,  you  would  wish  your  person 
here  a  while  —  did  you  know  the  rare  beauty  of 
this  Virgin  City,  you  would  quickly  make  love  to 
her,  and  change  your  Royal  Exchange  for  the 
Rialto,  and  your  Gray's  Inn  Walks  for  Saint 
Mark's  Place  for  a  time.  Farewell,  dear  child  of 
Virtue,  and  minion  of  the  Muses,  and  love  still 
your  J.  H. 

Venice,  i  July  1621. 

XXXIII 

To  77iy  much  honoured  friend^  Sir  "John  North, 
Knight ;  from  Venice 

Noble  Sir, 

THE  first  office  of  gratitude  is  to  receive  a 
good  turn  civilly,  then  to  retain  it  in  mem- 
ory and  acknowledge  it;  thirdly,  to  endeavour  a 
requital.  For  this  last  office,  it  is  in  vain  for  me  to 
attempt  it,  specially  towards  you,  who  have  laden 
me  with  such  a  variety  of  courtesies  and  weighty 
favours,  that  my  poor  stock  comes  far  short  of 
any  retaliation  ;  but  for  the  other  two,  reception, 
and   retention,  as    I    am   not   conscious   to   have 


OF  Jx*\MES  HOWELL  83 

been  wanting  in  the  first  act,  so  I  shall  never  fail 
in  the  second,  because  both  these  are  within  the 
compass  of  my  power  ;  for  if  you  could  pry  into 
my  memory,  you  should  discover  there  a  huge 
magazine  of  your  favours  (you  have  been  pleased 
to  do  me  present  and  absent)  safely  stored  up 
and  coacervated,  to  preserve  them  from  moulder- 
ing away  in  oblivion  ;  for  courtesies  should  be  no 
perishable  commodity.  Should  I  attempt  any 
other  requital,  I  should  extenuate  your  favours 
and  derogate  from  the  worth  of  them  ;  yet  if  to 
this  of  the  memory  I  can  contribute  any  other  act 
of  body  or  mind,  to  enlarge  my  acknowledgments 
towards  you,  you  may  be  well  assured  that  I  shall 
be  ever  ready  to  court  any  occasion  whereby  the 
world  may  know  how  much  1  am  your  thankful 
servitor,  J.  H. 

Venice,  13  July  1621. 

XXXIV 

To  Dan.  Caldivelly  Esq. ;  from  Venice 

My  dear  D., 

COULD  letters  fly  with  the  same  wings  as  love 
useth  to  do,  and  cut  the  air  with  the  like 
swiftness  of  motion,  this  letter  of  mine  should 
work  a  miracle,  and  be  with  you  in  an  instant ;  nor 
should  she  fear  interception  or  any  other  casualty 
in  the  way,  or  cost  you  one  penny  the  post,  for 
she  should  pass  invisibly  ;  but  'tis  not  fitting  that 


84  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

paper,  which  is  made  but  of  old  rags,  wherewith 
letters  are  swaddled,  should  have  the  same  privi- 
lege as  love,  which  is  a  spiritual  thing,  having 
something  of  divinity  in  it,  and  partakes  in  celerity 
with  the  imagination,  than  which  there  is  not  any- 
thing more  swift,  you  know  —  no,  not  the  motion 
of  the  upper  sphere,  the  primum  mobile^  which 
snatcheth  all  the  other  nine  after,  and  indeed  the 
whole  macrocosm  all  the  world  besides,  except 
our  earth  (the  centre),  which  upper  sphere  the  as- 
tronomers would  have  to  move  so  many  degrees, 
so  many  thousand  miles  in  a  moment.  Since,  then, 
letters  are  denied  such  a  velocity,  I  allow  this  of 
mine  twenty  days,  which  is  the  ordinary  time  al- 
lowed betwixt  Venice  and  London,  to  come  unto 
you,  and  thank  you  a  thousand  times  over  for  your 
last  of  the  tenth  of  June,  and  the  rich  venison  feast 
you  made,  as  I  understand,  not  long  since,  to  the 
remembrance  of  me,  at  the  Ship  Tavern.  Believe 
it,  sir,  you  shall  find  that  this  love  of  yours  is  not 
ill  employed,  for  I  esteem  it  at  the  highest  degree. 
I  value  it  more  than  the  Treasury  of  Saint  Mark, 
which  I  lately  saw,  where  among  other  things 
there  is  a  huge  iron  chest,  as  tall  as  myself,  that 
hath  no  lock,  but  a  crevice  through  which  they 
cast  in  the  gold  that  is  bequeathed  to  Saint  Mark 
in  legacies,  whereon  there  is  engraven  this  proud 
motto  — 

Quando  questo  scrinio  S'apria 
Tutto  '1  mundo  tremera. 

When  this  chest  shall  open,  the  whole  world 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  85 

shall  tremble.  The  Duke  of  Ossuna,  late  Viceroy 
of  Naples,  did  what  he  could  to  force  them  to 
open  it,  for  he  brought  Saint  Mark  to  waste  much 
of  this  treasure  in  the  late  wars,  which  he  made 
purposely  to  that  end,  which  made  them  have 
recourse  to  us  and  the  Hollander  for  ships,  not 
long  since. 

Amongst  the  rest  of  Italy  this  is  called  the 
Maiden  City  (notwithstanding  her  great  number 
of  courtesans),  and  there  is  a  prophecy,  "That 
she  shall  continue  a  maid  until  her  husband  forsake 
her,"  meaning  the  sea,  to  whom  the  Pope  married 
her  long  since,  and  the  sea  is  observed  not  to  love 
her  so  deeply  as  he  did,  for  he  begins  to  shrink 
and  grow  shallower  in  some  places  about  her;  nor 
doth  the  Pope  also,  who  was  the  father  that  gave 
her  to  the  sea,  affect  her  so  much  as  he  formerly 
did,  especially  since  the  extermination  of  the 
Jesuits:  so  that  both  husband  and  father  begin  to 
abandon  her. 

I  am  to  be  a  guest  to  this  hospitable  maid  a 
good  while  yet,  and  if  you  want  any  commodity 
that  she  can  afford  (and  what  cannot  she  afford  for 
human  pleasure  or  delight  ?)  do  but  write,  and  it 
shall  be  sent  you. 

Farewell,  gentle  soul,  and  correspond  still  in 
pure  love  with  your 

J.H. 

Venice,  29  of  July  1621. 


86  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XXXV 

To  Sir  James  Crofts ^  Knight;  from  Venice 

I  RECEIVED  one  of  yours  the  last  week,  that 
came  in  my  Lord  Ambassador  Wotton's 
packet,  and  being  now  upon  point  of  parting  with 
Venice,  I  could  not  do  it  without  acquainting  you 
(as  far  as  the  extent  of  a  letter  will  permit)  with 
her  power,  her  policy,  her  wealth,  and  pedigree. 
She  was  built  of  the  ruins  of  Aquileia  and  Padua, 
for  when  those  swarms  of  tough  northern  people 
overran  Italy  under  the  conduct  of  that  scourge  of 
heaven  Attila,  with  others,  and  that  this  soft  vo- 
luptuous nation,  after  so  long  a  desuetude  from 
arms,  could  not  repel  their  fury,  many  of  the 
ancient  nobility  and  gentry  fled  into  these  lakes 
and  little  islands,  amongst  the  fishermen  for  their 
security,  and  finding  the  air  good  and  commodious 
for  habitation,  they  began  to  build  upon  those 
small  islands,  whereof  there  are  in  all  threescore  ; 
and  in  tract  of  time,  they  conjoined  and  leagued 
them  together  by  bridges,  whereof  there  are  now 
above  eight  hundred,  and  this  makes  up  the  city  of 
Venice,  who  is  now  above  twelve  ages  old,  and  was 
contemporary  with  the  monarchy  of  France;  but 
the  signiory  glorieth  in  one  thing  above  the  mon- 
archy, that  she  was  born  a  Christian,  but  the 
monarchy  not.  Though  this  city  be  thus  hemmed 
in  with  the  sea,  yet  she  spreads  her  wings  far  and  wide 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  87 

upon  the  shore  ;  she  hath  in  Lombardy  six  con- 
siderable towns,  Padua,  Verona,  Vicenza,  Brescia, 
Crema  and  Bergamo;  she  hath  in  the  Marquisat, 
Bassan  and  Castelfranco  ;  she  hath  all  Friuli  and 
Istria;  she  commands  the  shores  of  Dalmatia  and 
Slavonia  ;  she  keeps  under  the  power  of  Saint 
Mark,  the  islands  of  Corfu  (anciently  Corcyria), 
Cephalonia,  Zant,  Cerigo,  Lucerigo,  and  Candy 
(Jove's  Cradle) ;  she  had  a  long  time  the  kingdom 
of  Cyprus,  but  it  was  quite  rent  from  her  by  the 
Turk,  which  made  that  high  spirited  Bassa,  being 
taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Lepanto,  where  the 
grand  signior  lost  above  200  galleys,  to  say, 
"  That  that  defeat  to  his  great  master  was  but  like 
the  shaving  of  his  beard  or  the  paring  of  his  nails; 
but  the  taking  of  Cyprus  was  like  the  cutting  off 
of  a  limb,  which  will  never  grow  again."  This 
mighty  potentate  being  so  near  a  neighbour  to  her 
she  is  forced  to  comply  with  him  and  give  him  an 
annual  present  in  gold:  she  hath  about  thirty  gal- 
leys most  part  of  the  year  in  course  to  scour  and 
secure  the  gulf;  she  entertains  by  land  in  Lom- 
bardy and  other  parts  25,000  foot,  besides  some 
of  the  cantons  of  Suisses  whom  she  gives  pay 
unto ;  she  hath  also  in  constant  pay  600  men 
of  arms,  and  every  of  these  must  keep  two 
horses  a-piece,  for  which  they  are  allowed  120 
ducats  a  year,  and  they  are  for  the  most  part  gen- 
tlemen of  Lombardy.  When  they  have  any  great 
expedition  to  make,  they  have  always  a  stranger 
for   their   general,  but  he   is   supervised   by  two 


88  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

proveditors,  without  whom  he  cannot  attempt  any 
thing. 

Her  great  Council  consists  of  above  2000  gen- 
tlemen, and  some  of  them  meet  every  Sunday  and 
holiday  to  choose  officers  and  magistrates,  and 
every  gentleman  being  past  twenty-five  years  of 
age  is  capable  to  sit  in  this  Council.  The  Doge  or 
Duke  (their  sovereign  magistrate)  is  chosen  by 
lots,  which  would  be  too  tedious  here  to  demon- 
strate, and  commonly  he  is  an  aged  man  who  is 
created,  like  that  course  they  hold  in  the  popedom. 
When  he  is  dead  there  be  inquisitors  that  examine 
his  actions,  and  his  misdemeanours  are  punishable 
in  his  heirs.  There  is  a  superintendent  council  of 
ten,  and  six  of  them  may  dispatch  business  with- 
out the  doge,  but  the  doge  never  without  some  of 
them,  not  as  much  as  open  a  letter  from  any  for- 
eign state,  though  addressed  to  himself,  which 
makes  him  to  be  called  by  other  princes,  Testa  di 
legno^  a  head  of  wood. 

The  wealth  of  this  republic  hath  been  at  a  stand, 
or  rather  declining,  since  the  Portugal  found  a 
road  to  the  East  Indies  by  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  ;  for  this  city  was  used  to  fetch  all  those 
spices  and  other  Indian  commodities  from  the 
grand  Cairo  down  the  Nile,  being  formerly 
carried  to  Cairo  from  the  Red  Sea  upon  camels' 
and  dromedaries'  backs,  threescore  days' journey  ; 
and  so  Venice  used  to  dispense  those  commodities 
through  all  Christendom,  which  not  only  the  Port- 
ugal, but  the  English  and  Hollander,  now  trans- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  89 

port,  and  are  masters  of  the  trade.  Yet  there  is  no 
outward  appearance  at  all  of  poverty,  or  any  decay 
in  this  city,  but  she  is  still  gay,  flourishing,  and 
fresh,  and  flowing  with  all  kind  of  bravery  and 
delight,  which  may  be  had  at  cheap  rates.  Much 
more  might  be  written  of  this  ancient  wise  Repub- 
lic, which  cannot  be  comprehended  within  the  nar- 
row enclosure  of  a  letter.  So  with  my  due  and  daily 
prayers  for  a  continuance  of  your  health,  and  in- 
crease of  honour,  I  rest,  your  most  humble  and 
ready  servitor,  J.  H. 

Venice,  i  of  August  1621. 

XXXVI 

To  Robert  Brown^  Esquire^  at  the  Middle 
Te??iple ;  from  Venice 

Robin, 

I  HAVE  now  enough  of  the  maiden  city,  and 
this  week  I  am  to  go  further  into  Italy  ;  for 
though  I  have  been  a  good  while  in  Venice,  yet  I 
cannot  say  I  have  been  hitherto  upon  the  conti- 
nent of  Italy  :  for  this  city  is  nought  else  but  a 
knot  of  islands  in  the  Adriatic  Sea,  joined  in  one 
body  by  bridges,  and  a  good  way  distant  from  the 
firm  land.  I  have  lighted  upon  very  choice  com- 
pany, your  cousin  Brown  and  Master  Wed,  and 
we  all  take  the  road  of  Lombardy,  but  we  made 
an  order  amongst  ourselves  that  our  discourse  be 
always  in  the  language  of  the  country,  under  pen- 


90  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

alty  of  a  forfeiture,  which  is  to  be  indispensably 
paid.  Randal  Symns  made  us  a  curious  feast  lately, 
where  in  a  cup  of  the  richest  Greek  we  had  your 
health,  and  I  could  not  tell  whether  the  wine  or 
the  remembrance  of  you  was  sweeter;  for  it  was 
naturally  a  kind  of  aromatic  wine,  which  left  a  fra- 
grant perfuming  kind  of  farewell  behind  it.  I  have 
sent  you  a  runlet  of  it  in  the  ship  LioHj  and  if  it 
come  safe,  and  unpricked,  I  pray  bestow  some  bot- 
tles upon  the  lady  (you  know)  with  my  humble 
service.  When  you  write  next  to  Master  Simns, 
I  pray  acknowledge  the  good  hospitality  and  ex- 
traordinary civilities  I  received  from  him.  Before 
I  conclude  I  will  acquaint  you  with  a  common  say- 
ing that  is  used  of  this  dainty  city  of  Venice  : 

Venetia,  Venetia,  chi  non  te  vede  non  te  pregia. 
Ma  chi  t'  ha  troppo  veduto  te  dispreggia. 

Englished  and  rhymed  thus  (though  I  know  you 
need  no  translation,  you  understand  so  much  of 
Italian) : 

Venice,  Venice,  none  thee  unseen  can  prize. 
Who  hath  seen  too  much  will  thee  despise. 

I  will  conclude  with  that  famous  hexastic  which 
Sannazaro  made  of  this  rare  city,  which  pleaseth 
me  much  better : 

Viderat  Hadriacis  Venetam  Neptunus  in  undis 
Stare  urbem,  et  toti  ponere  jura  Mari  ; 

Nunc  mihi  Tarpeias  quantum  vis,  Jupiter,  Arces 
Objice,  et  ilia  tui  moenia  Martis  ait. 

Sic  Pelage  Tibrim  praefers,  urbem  aspice  utramque, 
Illam  homines  dices,  hanc  posuisse  Deos. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  91 

When  Neptune  saw  in  Adrian  surges  stand 
Venice,  and  gave  the  sea  laws  of  command  : 
Now  Jove,  said  he,  object  thy  Capitol, 
And  Mars'  proud  walls  :   this  were  for  to  extol 
Tyber  beyond  the  main  ;  both  towns  behold  ; 
Rome,  men  thou 'It  say,  Venice  the  Gods  did  mould. 

Sannazaro  had  given  him  by  Saint  Mark  a  hun- 
dred zecchins  for  every  one  of  these  verses,  which 
amounts  to  about  300  pounds.  It  would  be  long 
before  the  city  of  London  would  do  the  like. 
Witness  that  cold  reward,  or  rather  those  cold 
drops  of  water  which  were  cast  upon  my  country- 
man, Sir  Hugh  Middleton,  for  bringing  Ware 
River  through  her  streets,  the  most  serviceable 
and  wholesomest  benefit  that  ever  she  received. 

The  parcel  of  Italian  books  that  you  write  for 
you  shall  receive  from  Master  Leat,  if  it  please 
God  to  send  the  ship  to  safe  port ;  and  I  take  it 
as  a  favour  that  you  employ  me  in  anything  that 
may  conduce  to  your  contentment.  —  Because,  I 
am  your  serious  servitor,  J.  H. 

Venice,  12  August  1621. 

XXXVII 

To  Capt.  Thotnas  Porter ;  Jrom  Venice 

My  dear  Captain, 

AS  I  was  going  a  shipboard  in  Alicante,  a  let- 
ter of  yours  in  Spanish  came  to  hand.    I  dis- 
covered two  things  in  it,  first,  what  a  master  you 


92  FAMILIAR   LETTERS 

are  of  that  language,  then  how  mindful  you  are 
of  your  friend.  For  the  first  I  dare  not  correspond 
with  you  yet ;  for  the  second,  I  shall  never  come 
short  of  you,  for  I  am  as  mindful  of  you,  as  possi- 
bly you  can  be  of  me,  and  some  hours  my  pulse 
doth  not  beat  more  often  than  my  memory  runs 
on  you,  which  is  often  enough  in  conscience  ;  for 
the  physicians  hold  that  in  every  well-disposed 
bodv  there  be  above  4000  pulsations  every  hour, 
and  some  pulses  have  been  known  to  beat  above 
30,000  times  an  hour  in  acute  fevers. 

I  understand  you  are  bound  with  a  gallant  fleet 
for  the  Mediterranean  ;  if  you  come  to  Alicante, 
I  prav  commend  me  to  Francesco  Marco,  my  land- 
lord ;  he  is  a  merry  droll  and  good  company. 
One  night  when  I  was  there  he  sent  his  boy  with 
a  borracha  of  leather  under  his  cloak  for  wine, 
the  boy  coming  back  about  ten  o'clock  and  pass- 
ing by  the  guard,  one  asked  him  whether  he  car- 
ried any  weapons  about  him  (for  none  must  wear 
any  weapons  there  after  ten  at  night).  "  No," 
quoth  the  boy,  being  pleasant,  "  I  have  but  a  little 
dagger."  The  watch  came  and  searched  him,  and 
finding  the  borracha  full  of  good  wine,  drank  it 
all  up,  saying,  "  Sirrah,  you  know  no  man  must 
carry  any  weapons  so  late;  but,  because  we  know 
whose  servant  you  are,  there 's  the  scabbard  of 
your  dagger  again,"  and  so  threw  him  the  empty 
borracho.  But  another  passage  pleased  me  better 
of  Don  Beltram  de  Rosa,  who  being  to  marry  a 
rich  Labrador's  (a  Yeoman's)  daughter  hard  by. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  93 

which  was  much  importuned  by  her  parents  to 
the  match,  because  their  family  should  be  thereby 
ennobled,  he  being  a  Cavalier  of  Saint  Jago.  The 
young  maid  having  understood  that  Don  Beltram 
had  been  in  Naples,  and  had  that  disease  about 
him,  answered  wittily,  "  En  verdad  por  adobar  me 
la  sangre,  no  quiero  dannarmi  la  carne "  (truly, 
sir,  to  better  my  blood,  I  will  not  hurt  my  flesh). 
I  doubt  I  shall  not  be  in  England  before  you  set 
out  to  sea ;  if  not,  I  take  my  leave  of  you  in  this 
paper,  and  wish  you  a  prosperous  voyage  and  an 
honourable  return  ;  it  is  the  hearty  prayers  of 
yours,  J.  H. 

Venice,  21  August  1621. 

XXXVIII 

To  Sir  William  Saint  'John,  Knight;  from  Rome 

HAVING  seen  Antenor's  tomb  in  Padua,  and 
the  amphitheatre  of  Flaminius  in  Verona, 
with  other  brave  towns  in  Lombardy,  I  am  now  come 
to  Rome,  and  Rome  they  say  is  every  man's  coun- 
try ;  she  is  called  Communis  Patria^  for  every  one 
that  is  within  the  compass  of  the  Latin  Church  finds 
himself  here,  as  it  were,  at  home  and  in  his  mother's 
house.  In  regard  of  interest  in  religion,  which  is 
the  cause  that  for  one  native  there  be  five  strangers 
that  sojourn  in  this  city,  and  without  any  distinction 
or  mark  of  strangeness,  they  come  to  preferments 
and  offices  both  in  Church  and  State,  according  to 


94  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

merit,  which  is  more  valued  and  sought  after  here 
than  anywhere. 

But  whereas  I  expected  to  have  found  Rome 
elevated  upon  seven  hills,  I  met  her  rather  spread- 
ing upon  a  flat,  having  humbled  herself  since  she 
was  made  a  Christian  and  descended  from  those 
hills  to  Campus  Martius.  With  Trastevere  and 
the  suburbs  of  Saint  Peter  she  hath  yet  in  compass 
about  fourteen  miles,  which  is  far  short  of  that  vast 
circuit  she  had  in  Claudius'  time  ;  for  Vopiscus 
writes  she  was  then  of  fifty  miles  circumference, 
and  she  had  five  hundred  thousand  free  citizens  in 
a  famous  census  that  was  made,  which,  allowing  but 
six  to  every  family  in  women,  children,  and  ser- 
vants, came  to  three  millions  of  souls  ;  but  she  is 
now  a  wilderness  in  comparison  of  that  number. 
The  Pope  is  grown  to  be  a  great  temporal  prince 
of  late  years,  for  the  state  of  the  Church  extends 
above  300  miles  in  length  and  200  miles  in 
breadth ;  it  contains  Ferrara,  Bologna,  Romagna, 
the  Marquisat  of  Ancona,  Umbria,  Sabina,  Peru- 
gia, with  a  part  of  Tuscany,  the  Patrimony,  Rome 
herself,  and  Latium.  In  these  there  are  above  fifty 
bishopricks,  the  Pope  hath  also  the  Duchy  of 
Spoleto,  and  the  exarchat  of  Ravena,  he  hath  the 
town  of  Benevento  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and 
the  country  of  Venice,  called  Avignon  in  France; 
he  hath  title  also  good  enough  to  Naples  itself; 
but,  rather  than  offend  his  champion  the  King  of 
Spain,  he  is  contented  with  a  white  mule  and  purse 
of  pistoles  about  the  neck,  which  he  receives  every 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  95 

year  for  a  heriot  or  homage,  or  what  you  will  call 
it.  He  pretends  also  to  be  Lord  Paramount  of 
Sicily,  Urbin,  Parma,  and  Masseran,  of  Norway, 
Ireland,  and  England,  since  King  John  did  pros- 
trate our  Crown  at  Pandulfo,  his  legate's  feet. 

The  State  of  the  Apostolic  See  here  in  Italy 
lieth  betwixt  two  seas,  the  Adriatic  and  the  Tyr- 
rhene, and  it  runs  through  the  midst  of  Italy, 
which  makes  the  Pope  powerful  to  do  good  or 
harm,  and  more  capable  than  any  other  to  be  an 
umpire  or  an  enemy.  His  authority  being  mixed 
'twixt  temporal  and  spiritual,  disperseth  itself  into 
so  many  members,  that  a  young  man  may  grow 
old  here  before  he  can  well  understand  the  form 
of  government. 

The  consistory  of  Cardinals  meet  but  once  a 
week,  and  once  a  week  they  solemnly  wait  all 
upon  the  Pope.  I  am  told  there  are  now  in  Chris- 
tendom but  sixty-eight  cardinals,  whereof  there 
are  six  cardinal  bishops,  fifty-one  cardinal  priests, 
and  eleven  cardinal  deacons.  The  cardinal  bish- 
ops attend  and  sit  near  the  Pope  when  he  cele- 
brates any  festival,  the  cardinal  priests  assist  him 
at  mass,  and  the  cardinal  deacons  attire  him.  A 
cardinal  is  made  by  a  short  brief  or  writ  from  the 
Pope  in  these  words  "  Creamus  te  Socium  Regi- 
bus,  superiorem  Ducibus,  et  fratrem  nostrum  " 
(We  create  thee  a  companion  to  kings,  superior 
to  dukes,  and  our  brother).  If  a  cardinal  bishop 
should  be  questioned  for  any  offence,  there  must 
be  twenty-four  witnesses  produced  against  him. 


96  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

The  Bishop  of  Ostia  hath  most  privilege  of 
any  other,  for  he  consecrates  and  instals  the  Pope, 
and  goes  always  next  to  him.  All  these  cardinals 
have  the  repute  of  princes,  and  besides  other  in- 
comes they  have  the  annats  of  benefices  to  sup- 
port their  greatness. 

For  point  of  power  the  Pope  is  able  to  put 
50,000  men  in  the  field  in  case  of  necessity,  be- 
sides his  naval  strength  in  galleys.  We  read  how 
Paul  the  Third  sent  Charles  the  Fifth  12,000  foot 
and  500  horse.  Pius  the  Fifth  sent  a  greater  aid 
to  Charles  the  Ninth.  And  for  riches,  besides  the 
temporal  dominions,  he  hath  in  all  the  countries 
before  named  the  datary  or  dispatching  of  Bulls. 
The  triennial  subsidies,  annats,  and  other  ecclesias- 
tic rights  mount  to  an  unknown  sum  ;  and  it  is  a 
common  saving  here  that  as  long  as  the  Pope  can 
finger  a  pen  he  can  want  no  pence.  Pius  the 
Fifth,  notwithstanding  his  expenses  in  build- 
ings, left  four  millions  in  the  castle  of  Saint 
Angelo,  in  less  than  five  years,  more  I  believe 
than  this  Gregory  the  Fifteenth  will,  for  he  hath 
many  nephews  ;  and  better  it  is  to  be  the  Pope's 
nephew  than  to  be  favourite  to  any  prince  in 
Christendom. 

Touching  the  temporal  government  of  Rome, 
and  Oppidan  affairs,  there  is  a  pretor,  and  some 
choice  citizens  which  sit  in  the  capitol.  Amongst 
other  pieces  of  policy  there  is  a  synagogue  of 
Jews  permitted  here  (as  in  other  places  of  Italy) 
under  the  Pope's  nose,  but  they  go  with  a  mark 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  97 

of  distinction  in  their  hats  ;  they  are  tolerated  for 
advantage  of  commerce,  wherein  the  Jews  are 
wonderful  dexterous,  though  most  of  them  be 
only  brokers  and  Lombardeers,  and  they  are  held 
to  be  here,  as  the  cynic  held  women  to  be,  malum 
necessarium.  There  be  few  of  the  Romans  that 
use  to  pray  heartily  for  the  Pope's  long  life,  in 
regard  the  oftener  the  change  is,  the  more  advan- 
tageous it  is  for  the  city,  because  commonly  it 
brings  strangers,  and  a  recruit  of  new  people. 
This  air  of  Rome  is  not  so  wholesome  as  of  old, 
and  amongst  other  reasons  one  is,  because  of  the 
burning  of  stubble  to  fatten  their  fields.  For  her 
antiquities  it  would  take  up  a  whole  volume  to 
write  them.  Those  which  I  hold  the  chiefest  are 
Vespasian's  amphitheatre,  where  fourscore  thou- 
cand  people  might  sit ;  the  Stoves  of  Anthony ; 
divers  rare  statues  at  Belvedere  and  Saint  Peter's, 
specially  that  of  Laocoon;  the  Obelisk;  for  the 
genius  of  the  Roman  hath  always  been  much 
taken  with  imagery,  limning,  and  sculptures,  inso- 
much that  as  in  former  times,  so  now,  I  believe, 
the  statues  and  pictures  in  Rome  exceed  the 
number  of  living  people.  One  antiquity  among 
others  is  very  remarkable  because  of  the  change 
of  language,- which  is  an  ancient  column  erected 
as  a  trophy  for  Duillius  the  Consul,  after  a  famous 
naval  victory  obtained  against  the  Carthaginians 
in  the  second  Punic  war,  where  these  words  are 
engraven  and  remain  legible  to  this  day  :  "  Exe- 
met  leco-ines  Macistrates  Castreis  exfocient  pug- 


98  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

nandod  cepet  enque  navebos  marid  Consul,"  etc. 
And  half  a  dozen  lines  after  it  is  called  Columna 
rostrata^  having  the  beaks  and  prows  of  ships  en- 
graven up  and  down,  whereby  it  appears  that  the 
Latin  then  spoken  was  much  differing  from  that 
which  was  used  in  Cicero's  time  150  years  after. 
Since  the  dismembering  of  the  empire  Rome  hath 
run  through  many  vicissitudes  and  turns  of  for- 
tune, and  had  it  not  been  for  the  residence  of  the 
Pope  I  believe  she  had  become  a  heap  of  stones, 
a  mount  of  rubbish  by  this  time.  And  howsoever 
that  she  bears  up  indifferent  well,  yet  one  may 
say  — 

Qui  miseranda  videt  veteris  vestigia  Romae, 
Ille  potest  merito  dicere  Roma  fuit. 

They  who  the  ruins  of  first  Rome  behold. 
May  say,  Rome  is  not  now,  but  was  of  old. 

Present  Rome  may  be  said  to  be  but  the  monu- 
ment of  Rome  passed  when  she  was  in  that  flour- 
ish that  Saint  Austin  desired  to  see  her  in.  She 
who  tamed  the  world  tamed  herself  at  last,  and 
falling  under  her  own  weight  fell  to  be  a  prey  to 
time,  yet  there  is  a  providence  seems  to  have  a 
care  of  her  still ;  for  though  her  air  be  not  so  good, 
nor  her  circumjacent  soil  so  kindly  as  it  was,  yet 
she  hath  wherewith  to  keep  life  and  soul  together 
still  by  her  ecclesiastic  courts,  which  is  the  sole 
cause  of  her  peopling  now.  So  that  it  may  be  said 
when  the  Pope  came  to  be  her  head  she  was  re- 
duced to  her  first  principles  ;  for  as  a  shepherd  was 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  99 

founder,  so  a  shepherd  is  still  her  governor  and 
preserver.  But  whereas  the  French  have  an  old 
saying,  that 

Jamais  cheval  ny  homme, 
S'amenda  pour  aller  a  Rome. 

Ne'er  horse  or  man  did  mend 
That  unto  Rome  did  wend. 

Truly  I  must  confess  that  I  find  myself  much 
bettered  by  it ;  for  the  sight  of  some  of  these  ruins 
did  fill  me  with  symptoms  of  mortification,  and 
made  me  more  sensible  of  the  frailty  of  all  sublu- 
nary things,  how  all  bodies,  as  well  inanimate  as 
animate,  are  subject  to  dissolution  and  change,  and 
everything  else  under  the  moon,  except  the  love 
of  your  faithful  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Rome,  September  13,  1621. 

XXXIX  • 

To  Sir  T.  H.,  Knight ;  from  Naples 

I  AM  now  in  the  gentle  city  of  Naples,  a  city 
swelling  with  all  delight,  gallantry  and  wealth  ; 
and  truly,  in  mv  opinion,  the  King  of  Spain's 
greatness  appears  here  more  eminently  than  in 
Spain  itself.  This  is  a  delicate  luxurious  city, 
fuller  of  true-bred  cavaliers  than  any  place  I  saw 
yet.  The  clime  is  hot,  and  the  constitutions  of 
the  inhabitants  more  hot. 


lOO  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

The  Neapolitan  is  accounted  the  best  courtier 
of  ladies,  and  the  greatest  embracer  of  pleasure  of 
any  other  people.  They  say  there  is  no  less  here 
than  twenty  thousand  courtesans  registered  in  the 
office  of  Savelli.  This  kingdom  with  Calabria  may 
be  said  to  be  the  one  moiety  of  Italy.  It  extends 
itself  450  miles  and  spreads  in  breadth  112;  it 
contains  2700  towns,  it  hath  20  archbishops,  127 
bishops,  13  princes,  24  dukes,  25  marquises,  and 
800  barons.  There  are  three  presidial  castles  in 
this  city,  and  though  the  kingdom  abounds  in  rich 
staple  commodities  as  silks,  cottons,  and  wine,  and 
that  there  is  a  mighty  revenue  comes  to  the  crown, 
yet  the  King  of  Spain  when  he  casts  up  his  ac- 
count at  the  year's  end  makes  but  little  benefit 
thereof,  for  it  is  eaten  up  betwixt  governors,  gar- 
risons and  officers.  He  is  forced  to  maintain  4000 
Spanish  foot,  called  the  Tercia  of  Naples,  in  the 
castles  he  hath,  1600  in  the  perpetual  garrison. 
He  hath  1000  m^  of  arms,  450  light  horse  ;  be- 
sides there  are  five  footmen  enrolled  for  every 
hundred  fire.  And  he  had  need  to  do  all  this  to 
keep  this  voluptuous  people  in  awe,  for  the  story 
musters  up  seven  and  twenty  thousand  famous 
rebellions  of  the  Neapolitans  in  less  than  300 
years ;  but  now  they  pay  soundly  for  it,  for  one 
shall  hear  them  groan  up  and  down  under  the 
Spanish  yoke.  And  commonly  the  King  of  Spain 
sends  some  of  his  grandees  hither  to  repair  their 
decayed  fortunes,  whence  the  saying  sprung  :  That 
the   Viceroy   of  Sicily   gnaws,   the    Governor   of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  loi 

Milan  eats,  but  the  Viceroy  of  Naples  devours. 
Our  English  merchants  here  bear  a  considerable 
trade,  and  their  factors  live  in  better  equipage  and 
in  a  more  splendid  manner,  as  in  all  Italy  besides, 
than  their  masters  and  principals  in  London. 
They  ruffle  in  silks  and  satins,  and  wear  good 
Spanish  leather  shoes  ;  while  their  masters'  shoes 
upon  our  Exchange  in  London  shine  with  black- 
ing. At  Puzzoli,  not  far  off  amongst  the  Grottes, 
there  are  so  many  strange  stupendous  things  that 
nature  herself  seemed  to  have  studied  of  purpose 
how  to  make  herself  there  admired.  I  reserve  the 
discoursing  of  them  with  the  nature  of  the  Taran- 
tola  and  Manna,  which  is  gathered  here  and  no- 
where else,  with  other  things,  till  I  see  you,  for 
they  are  fitter  for  discourses  than  a  letter.  I  will 
conclude  with  a  proverb  they  have  in  Italy  of  this 
people: 

Napolitano 

Largo  di  bocca,  stretto  di  mano. 

The  Neapolitans 

Have  wide  mouths,  but  narrow  hands. 

They  make  strong,  masculine  promises,  but  fe- 
male performances  (for  deeds  are  men,  but  words 
are  women),  and  if  in  a  whole  flood  of  compli- 
ments one  find  a  drop  of  reality,  it  is  well.  The 
first  acceptance  of  a  courtesy  is  accounted  the 
greatest  incivility  that  can  be  amongst  them  and 
a  ground  for  a  quarrel,  as  I  heard  of  a  German 
gentlem.an  that  was  baffled  for  accepting  only  one 
mvitation  to  a  dinner. —  So  desiring  to  be  preserved 


I02  FAMILIAR   LETTERS 

still  in  your  good  opinion  and  in  the  rank  of 
your  servants,  I  rest  always  most  ready  at  your 
disposing, 

J.  H. 
Naples,  October  the  r,  1621. 


XL 

To  Christopher  J  ones  ^  Es  quire  ^  at  Gray's  Inn  ; 
from  Naples 

Honoured  Father, 

I  MUST  still  style  you  so,  since  I  was  adopted 
your  son  by  so  good  a  mother  as  Oxford.  My 
mind  lately  prompted  me  that  I  should  commit  a 
great  solecism,  if  amongst  the  rest  of  my  friends 
in  England,  I  should  leave  you  unsaluted,  whom 
I  love  so  dearly  well,  especially  having  such  a  fair 
and  pregnant  opportunity  as  the  hand  of  this 
worthy  gentleman,  your  cousin  Morgan,  who  is 
now  posting  hence  for  England.  He  will  tell  you 
how  it  fares  with  me ;  how  any  time  these  thirty 
odd  months  I  have  been  tossed  from  shore  to 
shore,  and  passed  under  various  meridians,  and 
am  now  in  this  voluptuous  and  luxuriant  city  of 
Naples.  And  though  those  frequent  removes  and 
tumblings  under  climes  of  different  temperature 
were  not  without  some  danger,  yet  the  delight 
which  accompanied  them  was  far  greater ;  and  it 
is  impossible  for  any  man  to  conceive  the  true 
pleasure  of  peregrination  but  he  who  actually  en- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  103 

joys  and  puts  it  in  practice.  Believe  it,  sir,  that 
one  year  well  employed  abroad  by  one  of  mature 
judgment  (which  you  know  I  want  very  much) 
advantageth  more  in  point  of  useful  and  solid 
knowledge  than  three  in  any  of  our  Universities. 
You  know  running  waters  are  the  purest,  so  they 
that  traverse  the  world  up  and  down  have  the 
clearest  understanding,  being  faithful  eye-wit- 
nesses of  those  things  which  others  receive  but  in 
trust,  whereunto  they  must  yield  an  intuitive  con- 
sent and  a  kind  of  implicit  faith.  When  I  passed 
through  some  parts  of  Lombardy,  amongst  other 
things  I  observed  the  physiognomies  and  com- 
plexions of  the  people,  men  and  women,  and  I 
thought  I  was  in  Wales,  for  divers  of  them  have 
a  cast  of  countenance  and  a  nearer  resemblance 
with  our  nation  than  any  I  ever  saw  yet.  And 
the  reason  is  obvious,  for  the  Romans  having 
been  near  upon  three  hundred  years  amongst  us, 
where  they  had  four  legions  (before  the  English 
nation  or  language  had  any  being),  by  so  long  a 
coalition  and  tract  of  time  the  two  nations  must 
needs  copulate  and  mix,  insomuch  that  I  believe 
there  is  yet  remaining  in  Wales  many  of  the 
Roman  race,  and  divers  in  Italy  of  the  British. 
Amongst  other  resemblances,  one  was  in  their 
prosody  and  vein  of  versifying  or  rhyming,  which 
is  like  our  bards,  who  hold  agnominations  and 
enforcing  of  consonant  words  or  syllables,  one 
upon  the  other,  to  be  the  greatest  elegance,  as  for 
example,  in  Welsh,  "  Tewgris  todyrris  ty'r  derrin. 


104  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

gwillt,"  etc.  So  have  I  seen  divers  old  rhymes  in 
Italian  running  so:  "  Donne,  O  danno,  che  Felo 
afFronto  afFronta :  In  selva  salvo  a  me;  Piu  caro 
cuore,"  etc. 

Being  lately  in  Rome,  amongst  other  pasquils  I 
met  with  one  that  was  against  the  Scot;  though  it 
had  some  gall  in  it,  yet  it  had  a  great  deal  of  wit, 
especially  towards  the  conclusion,  so  that  I  think 
if  King  James  saw  it  he  would  but  laugh  at  it. 

As  I  remember,  some  years  since,  there  was  a 
very  abusive  satire  in  verse  brought  to  our  king, 
and  as  the  passages  were  a  reading  before  him  he 
often  said,  that  if  there  were  no  more  men  in 
England  the  rogue  should  hang  for  it,  at  last 
being  come  to  the  conclusion,  which  was  (after  all 
his  railing)  : 

Now  God  preserve  the  King,  the  Queen,  the  peers. 
And  grant  the  author  long  may  wear  his  ears. 

This  pleased  His  Majesty  so  well  that  he  broke 
into  a  laughter,  and  said,  "  By  my  soul,  so  thou 
shalt  for  me ;  thou  art  a  bitter,  but  thou  art  a 
witty  knave." 

When  you  write  to  Monmouthshire,  I  pray 
send  my  respects  to  my  tutor.  Master  Moor  For- 
tune, and  my  service  to  Sir  Charles  Williams  ;  and 
according  to  that  relation  which  was  betwixt  us  in 
Oxford,  I  rest,  your  constant  son  to  serve  you, 

J.  H. 

Naples,  8  October  1621. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  105 

XLI 

To  Sir  y.  C. ;  from  Florence 

THIS  letter  comes  to  kiss  your  hands  from 
fair  Florence,  a  city  so  beautiful  that  the 
great  Emperor  (Charles  the  Fifth)  said  that  she  was 
fitting  to  be  shown  and  seen  only  upon  holidays. 
She  marvellously  flourisheth  with  buildings,  with 
wealth  and  artisans ;  for  it  is  thought  that  in 
serges,  which  is  but  one  commodity,  there  are  made 
two  millions  every  year.  All  degrees  of  people  live 
here,  not  only  well,  but  splendidly  well,  notwith- 
standing the  manifold  exactions  ot  the  duke  upon 
all  thincrs.  For  none  can  buy  here  lands  or  houses 
but  he  must  pay  eight  in  the  hundred  to  the  duke  ; 
none  can  hire  or  build  a  house  but  he  must  pay 
the  tenth  penny  ;  none  can  marry,  or  commence 
suit  in  law,  but  there  's  a  fee  to  the  duke  ;  none  can 
bring  as  much  as  an  egg  or  sallet  to  the  market 
but  the  duke  hath  share  therein.  Moreover,  Leg- 
horn, which  is  the  key  of  Tuscany,  being  a  mari- 
time and  a  great  mercantile  town,  hath  mightily 
enriched  this  country  by  being  a  frank  port  to  all 
comers,  and  a  safe  rendezvous  to  pirates  as  well  as 
to  merchants.  Add  hereunto  that  the  Duke  him- 
self in  some  respects  is  a  merchant,  for  he  some- 
times engrosseth  all  the  corn  of  the  country,  and 
retails  it  at  what  rate  he  pleaseth.  This  enables 
the    Duke   to  have  perpetually   20,000  men  en- 


io6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

rolled,  trained  up,  and  paid,  and  none  but  they  can 
carry  arms.  He  hath  400  light  horse  in  constant 
pay,  and  100  men  at  arms  besides,  and  all  these 
quartered  in  so  narrow  a  compass  that  he  can  com- 
mand them  all  to  Florence  in  twenty-four  hours. 
He  hath  twelve  galleys,  two  galleons,  and  six  gal- 
leasses besides,  and  his  galleys  are  called  the  black 
fleet,  because  they  annoy  the  Turk  more  in  the 
bottom  of  the  Straits  than  any  other. 

This  state  is  bound  to  keep  good  quarter  with 
the  Pope  more  than  others,  for  all  Tuscany  is 
fenced  by  Nature  herself,  I  mean  with  mountains, 
except  towards  the  territories  of  the  Apostolic 
See  and  the  sea  itself;  therefore  it  is  called  a  coun- 
try of  iron. 

The  Duke's  palace  is  so  spacious  that  it  occu- 
pieth  the  room  of  fifty  houses  at  least ;  yet,  though 
his  court  surpasseth  the  bounds  of  a  duke's,  it 
reacheth  not  to  the  magnificence  of  a  king's.  The 
Pope  was  solicited  to  make  the  Grand  Duke  a  king, 
and  he  answered  that  he  was  content  he  should  be 
king  in  Tuscany,  not  of  Tuscany;  whereupon  one 
of  his  counsellors  replied  that  it  was  a  more  glori- 
ous thing  to  be  a  grand  duke  than  a  petty  king. 

Among  other  cities  which  I  desired  to  see  in 
Italy,  Genoa  was  one  where  I  lately  was,  and  found 
her  to  be  the  proudest  for  buildings  of  any  I  met 
withal,  yet  the  people  go  the  plainest  of  any  other, 
and  are  also  most  parsimonious  in  their  diet ;  they 
are  the  subtlest,  I  will  not  say  the  most  subdolous 
dealers ;  they  are  wonderful  wealthy,  especially  in 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  107 

money.  In  the  year  1 600,  the  King  of  Spain  owed 
them  eighteen  millions,  and  they  say  it  is  double 
as  much  now. 

From  the  time  they  began  to  finger  the  Indian 
gold,  and  that  this  town  hath  been  the  scale  by 
which  he  hath  conveyed  his  treasure  to  Flanders 
since  the  wars  in  the  Netherlands,  for  the  support 
of  his  armies,  and  that  she  had  got  some  privileges 
for  the  exportation  of  wools,  and  other  commodi- 
ties (prohibited  to  others)  out  of  Spain,  she  hath 
improved  extremely  in  riches,  and  made  Saint 
George's  Mount  swell  higher  than  Saint  Mark's 
in  Venice. 

She  hath  been  often  ill-favouredly  shaken  by 
the  Venetian,  and  hath  had  other  enemies  which 
have  put  her  to  hard  shifts  for  her  own  defence, 
specially  in  the  time  of  Louis  the  Eleventh  of 
France,  at  which  time,  when  she  would  have  given 
herself  up  to  him  for  protection.  King  Louis  being 
told  that  Genoa  was  content  to  be  his,  he  an- 
swered :  "  She  should  not  be  his  long,  for  he  would 
give  her  up  to  the  devil  and  rid  his  hands  of  her." 

Indeed,  the  Genoese  have  not  the  fortune  to  be 
so  well  beloved  as  other  people  in  Italy,  which 
proceeds,  I  believe,  from  their  cunningness  and 
over-reachings  in  bargaining,  wherein  they  have 
something  of  the  Jew.  The  Duke  is  there  but 
biennial,  being  changed  every  two  years.  He  hath 
fifty  Germans  for  his  guard.  There  be  four  cen- 
turions that  have  two  men  apiece,  which  upon 
occasions   attend   the   Signiory   abroad   in   velvet 


io8  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

coats ;  there  be  eight  chief  governors  and  four 
hundred  counsellors,  amongst  whom  there  be  five 
sovereign  Syndics,  who  have  authority  to  censure 
the  duke  himself,  his  time  being  expired,  and 
punish  any  governor  else,  though  after  death, 
upon  the  heir. 

Amongst  other  customs  they  have  in  that  town, 
one  is,  that  none  must  carry  a  pointed  knife  about 
him,  which  makes  the  Hollander,  who  is  used  to 
"snik  and  snee,"  to  leave  his  horn-sheath  and 
knife  a  shipboard  when  he  comes  ashore.  I  met 
not  with  an  Englishman  in  all  the  town,  nor  could 
I  learn  of  any  factor  of  ours  that  ever  resided  there. 

There  is  a  notable  little  active  republic  towards 
the  midst  of  Tuscany  called  Lucca,  which,  in  re- 
gard she  is  under  the  Emperor's  protection,  he 
dares  not  meddle  withal,  though  she  lie  as  a  par- 
tridge under  a  falcon's  wings,  in  relation  to  the 
Grand  Duke ;  besides  there  is  another  reason 
of  state  why  he  meddles  not  with  her,  because 
she  is  more  beneficial  unto  him  now  that  she  is 
free,  and  more  industrious  to  support  this  freedom, 
than  if  she  were  become  his  vassal;  for  then  it  is 
probable  she  would  grow  more  careless  and  idle, 
and  so  could  not  vent  his  commodities  so  soon 
which  she  buys  for  ready  money,  wherein  most 
of  her  wealth  consists.  There  is  no  state  that 
winds  the  penny  more  nimbly  and  makes  quicker 
returns. 

She  hath  a  council  called  the  Discoli,  which  prys 
into  the  profession  and  life  of  every  one,  and  once 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  109 

a  year  they  rid  the  state  of  all  vagabonds.  So 
that  this  petty  pretty  republic  may  not  be  im- 
properly paralleled  to  a  hive  of  bees,  which  have 
been  always  the  emblems  of  industry  and  order. 

In  this  splendid  city  of  Florence  there  be  many 
rarities,  which,  if  I  should  insert  in  this  letter,  it 
would  make  her  swell  too  big ;  and,  indeed,  they 
are  fitter  for  parole  communication.  Here  is  the 
prime  dialect  of  the  Italian  spoken,  though  the 
pronunciation  be  a  little  more  guttural  than  that 
of  Siena  and  that  of  the  Court  of  Rome,  which 
occasions  the  proverb : 

Lingua  Tuscana  in  bocca  Romana. 

The  Tuscan  tongue  sounds  best  in  a  Roman  mouth. 

The  people  here  generally  seem  to  be  more 
generous  and  of  a  higher  comportment  than  else- 
where, very  cautious  and  circumspect  in  their 
negotiation,  whence  arises  the  proverb : 

Chi  ha  da  far  con  Tosco, 
Non  bisogna  che  sia  Losco. 

Who  dealcth  with  a  Florentine, 
Must  have  the  use  of  both  his  e'en. 

I  shall  bid  Italy  farewell  now  very  shortly,  and 
make  my  way  over  the  Alps  to  France,  and  so 
home  by  God's  grace,  to  take  a  review  of  my 
friends  in  England,  amongst  whom  the  sight  of 
yourself  will  be  as  gladsome  to  me  as  of  any  other; 
for  I  profess  myself,  and  purpose  to  be  ever,  your 
thrice  affectionate  servitor,  J.  H. 

Florence,  i  November  1621. 


no  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XLII 

To  Capt.  Francis  Bacon ;  from  Turin 

I  AM  now  upon  point  of  shaking  hands  with 
Italy,  for  I  am  come  to  Turin,  having  already 
seen  Venice  the  rich,  Padua  the  learned,  Bologna 
the  fat,  Rome  the  holy,  Naples  the  gentle,  Genoa 
the  proud,  Florence  the  fair,  and  Milan  the  great. 
From  this  last,  I  came  hither,  and  in  that  city  also 
appears  the  grandeur  of  Spain's  monarchy  very 
much.  The  governor  of  Milan  is  always  captain- 
general  of  the  cavalry  to  the  King  of  Spain  through- 
out Italy.  The  Duke  of  Feria  is  now  governor  ; 
and  being  brought  to  kiss  his  hands,  he  used  me 
with  extraordinary  respect,  as  he  doth  all  of  our 
nation,  being  by  the  maternal  side  a  Dormer.  The 
Spaniard  entertains  there  also  3000  foot,  1000  light 
horse,  and  600  men  at  arms  in  perpetual  pay  ;  so 
that  I  believe  the  benefit  of  that  duchy  also,  though 
seated  in  the  richest  soil  of  Italy,  hardly  counter- 
vails the  charge.  Three  things  are  admired  in 
Milan,  the  Duomo  or  great  church  (built  all  of 
white  marble  within  and  without),  the  hospital,  and 
the  castle,  by  which  the  citadel  of  Antwerp  was 
traced,  and  is  the  best-conditioned  fortress  of 
Christendom,  though  Nova  Palma,  a  late  fortress 
of  the  Venetians,  would  go  beyond  it,  which  is 
built  according  to  the  exact  rules  of  the  most 
modern    engineering,    being    of   a    round    form, 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  iii 

with  nine  bastions,  and  a  street  level  |o  every 
bastion. 

The  Duke  of  Savoy,  though  he  pass  for  one 
of  the  princes  of  Italy,  yet  the  least  part  of  his 
territories  lie  there,  being  squandered  up  and  down 
amongst  the  Alps,  but  as  much  as  he  hath  in  Italy, 
which  is  Piedmont,  is  a  well-peopled  and  passing 
good  country. 

The  Duke  of  Savoy  Emanuel  is  accounted  to 
be  of  the  ancientest  and  purest  extraction  of  any 
prince  in  Europe,  and  his  knights  also  of  the 
Annunciate  to  be  one  of  the  ancientest  orders. 
Though  this  present  duke  be  little  in  stature,  yet 
is  he  of  a  lofty  spirit,  and  one  of  the  best  soldiers 
now  living  ;  and  though  he  be  valiant  enough,  yet 
he  knows  how  to  patch  the  lion's  skin  with  a  fox's 
tail.  And  whosoever  is  Duke  of  Savoy  had  need 
be  cunning,  and  more  than  any  other  prince,  in 
regard  that  lying  between  two  potent  neighbours, 
the  French  and  the  Spaniard,  he  must  comply 
with  both. 

Before  I  wean  myself  from  Italy,  a  word  or  two 
touching  the  genius  of  the  nation.  I  find  the  Ital- 
ian a  degree  higher  in  compliment  than  the  French ; 
he  is  longer  and  more  grave  in  the  delivery  of  it, 
and  more  prodigal  of  words,  insomuch  that  if  one 
were  to  be  worded  to  death,  Italian  is  the  fittest 
language  in  regard  of  the  fluency  and  softness  of  it; 
for  throughout  the  whole  body  of  it,  you  have  not  a 
word  ends  with  a  consonant,  except  some  few  mon- 
osyllables, conjunctions  and  prepositions,  and  this 


112  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

renders ^he  speech  more  smooth,  which  made  one 
say,  "  That  when  the  confusion  of  tongues  hap- 
pened at  the  building  of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  if  the 
Italian  had  been  there,  Nimrod  had  made  him  a  plas- 
terer." Theyare  generally  indulgentof  themselves, 
and  great  embracers  of  pleasure,  which  may  pro- 
ceed from  the  luscious  rich  wines  and  luxurious  food, 
fruits,  and  roots,  wherewith  the  country  abounds. 
Insomuch,  that  in  some  places  Nature  may  be  said 
to  be  lena  sui^  a  bawd  to  herself.  The  Cardinal  de 
Medicis'  rule  is  of  much  authority  amongst  them, 
"That  there  is  no  religion  under  the  navel."  And 
some  of  them  are  of  the  opinion  of  the  Asians, 
who  hold  that  touching  those  natural  passions, 
desires,  and  motions,  which  run  up  and  down  in 
the  blood,  God  Almighty  and  His  handmaid  Na- 
ture did  not  intend  they  should  be  a  torment  to  us, 
but  to  be  used  with  comfort  and  delight.  To  con- 
clude, in  Italy  there  be"Virtutes  magnae,  nee  mi- 
nora vitia  "  (great  virtues  and  no  less  vices). 

So  with  a  tender  of  my  most  affectionate  respects 
unto  you  I  rest,  your  humble  servitor,     J.  H. 

Turin,  30  November. 

XLIII 

To  Sir  y.  H. ;  from  Lyons 

I  AM  now  got  over  the  Alps  and  returned  to 
France.    I   had  crossed  and  clambered  up  the 
Pyrenees  to  Spain  before;  they  are  not  so  high  and 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  113 

hideous  as  the  Alps,  but  for  our  mountains  in 
Wales,  as  Eppint  and  Penwinmaur,  which  are  so 
much  cried  up  amongst  us,  they  are  molehills  in 
comparison  of  these,  they  are  but  pigmies  com- 
pared to  giants,  but  blisters  compared  to  impost- 
humes,  or  pimples  to  warts.  Besides  our  mountains 
in  Wales  bear  always  something  useful  to  man  or 
beast,  some  grass  at  least ;  but  these  uncouth  huge 
monstrous  excrescences  of  nature,  bear  nothing 
(most  of  them)  but  craggy  stones.  The  tops  of 
some  of  them  are  blanched  over  all  the  year  long 
with  snows,  and  the  people  who  dwell  in  the 
valleys  drinking  for  want  of  other  this  snow 
water,  are  subject  to  a  strange  swelling  in  the 
throat,  called  Goitre,  which  is  common  amongst 
them. 

As  I  scaled  the  Alps,  my  thoughts  reflected  upon 
Hannibal,  who  with  vinegar  and  strong  waters  did 
eat  out  a  passage  through  those  hills,  but  of  late 
years  they  have  found  a  speedier  way  to  do  it  by 
gunpowder. 

Being  at  Turin,  I  was  by  some  disaster  brought 
to  an  extreme  low  ebb  in  money,  so  that  I  was 
forced  to  foot  it  along  with  some  pilgrims,  and  with 
gentle  pace  and  easy  journeys,  to  climb  up  those 
hills  till  I  came  to  this  town  of  Lyons,  where  a 
countryman  of  ours,  one  Mr  Lewis,  whom  I  knew 
in  Alicante,  lives  factor,  so  that  now  I  want  not 
anvthing  for  my  accommodation. 

This  is  a  stately  rich  town,  and  a  renowned  mart 
for  the  silks  of  Italy  and  other  Levantine  com- 


114  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

modities,  and  a  great  bank  for  money,  and  indeed 
the  greatest  of  France.  Before  this  bank  was 
founded,  which  was  by  Henry  the  First,  France 
had  but  little  gold  and  silver,  insomuch  that  we 
read  how  King  John,  their  captive  king,  could  not 
in  four  years  raise  sixty  thousand  crowns  to  pay 
his  ransom  to  our  King  Edward.  And  Saint  Lewis 
was  in  the  same  case  when  he  was  prisoner  in 
Egypt,  where  he  had  left  the  Sacrament  for  a  gage. 
But  after  this  bank  was  erected  it  filled  France 
full  of  money.  They  of  Luca,  Florence,  and 
Genoa,  with  the  Venetian  got  quickly  over  the 
hills,  and  brought  their  moneys  hither  to  get 
twelve  in  the  hundred  profit,  which  was  the  inter- 
est at  first,  though  it  be  now  much  lower. 

In  this  great  mercantile  town  there  be  two  deep 
navigable  rivers,  the  Rhone  and  the  Saone.  The 
one  hath  a  swift  rapid  course  ;  the  other  slow  and 
smooth.  And  one  day  as  I  walked  upon  their 
banks  and  observed  so  much  difference  in  their 
course,  I  fell  into  a  contemplation  of  the  humours 
of  the  French  and  Spaniard,  how  they  might  be 
not  improperly  compared  to  these  rivers,  —  the 
French  to  the  swift,  the  Spaniard  to  the  slow, 
river. 

I  shall  write  you  no  more  letters  until  I  present 
myself  unto  you  for  a  speaking  letter,  which  I  shall 
do  as  soon  as  I  may  tread  London  stones.  —  Your 
affectionate  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Lyons,  6  November  1621. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  115 

XLIV 

Tg  Mr  Tho?}ias  Bowyer;  from  Lyons 

BEING  so  near  the  Lake  of  Geneva  curiosity 
would  carry  any  one  to  see  it.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  that  town,  methinks,  are  made  of  another 
paste,  differing  from  the  affable  nature  of  those 
people  I  had  conversed  withal  formally.  They  have 
one  policy,  lest  that  their  petty  Republic  should 
be  pestered  with  fugitives.  Their  law  is,  that  what 
stranger  soever  flies  thither  for  sanctuary,  he  is 
punishable  there,  in  the  same  degree,  as  in  the 
country  where  he  committed  the  offence. 

Geneva  is  governed  by  four  syndics,  and  four 
hundred  senators.  She  lies  like  a  bone  betwixt 
three  mastiffs,  the  Emperor,  the  French  King,  and 
the  Duke  of  Savoy.  They  all  three  look  upon  the 
bone,  but  neither  of  them  dare  touch  it  singly,  for 
fear  the  other  two  would  fly  upon  him.  But  they 
say  the  Savoyard  hath  the  justest  title,  for  there 
are  Imperial  records  extant  that  although  the 
Bishops  of  Geneva  were  Lords  Spiritual  and  Tem- 
poral, yet  they  should  acknowledge  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  for  their  superior.  This  man's  ancestors  went 
frequently  to  the  town,  and  the  keys  were  presently 
tendered  to  him.  But  since  Calvin's  time,  who 
had  been  once  banished,  and  then  called  in  again, 
which  made  him  to  apply  that  speech  unto  him- 
self, That  the  stone  which  the  builders  refused  is 


ii6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

become  the  head-stone  of  the  corner  —  I  say,  since 
they  were  refused  by  Calvin,  they  seem  to  shun 
and  scorn  all  the  world  besides,  being  cast,  as  it 
were,  into  another  mould,  which  hath  quite  altered 
their  very  natural  disposition  in  point  of  moral 

society. 

Before  I  part  with  this  famous  city  of  Lyons  I 
will  relate  unto  you  a  wonderful  strange  accident 
that  happened  here  not  many  years  ago.  There  is 
an  officer  called  Le  Chevalier  du  Guet,  which  is  a 
kind  of  night  guard,  here  as  well  as  in  Paris,  and 
his  lieutenant,  called  Jaquette,  having  supped  one 
night  in  a  rich  merchant's  house,  as  he  was  pass- 
ing the  round  afterwards,  he  said,  I  wonder  what 
I  have  eaten  and  drunk  at  the  merchant's  house, 
for  I  find  myself  so  hot  that  if  I  met  with  the 
devil's  dam  to-night  I  should  not  forbear  using 
of  her.  Hereupon,  a  little  after,  he  overtook  a 
young  gentlewoman  masked,  whom  he  would 
needs  usher  to  her  lodging,  but  discharged  all  his 
watch  except  two.  She  brought  him,  to  his  think- 
ing, to  a  little  low  lodging  hard  by  the  city  wall, 
where  there  were  only  two  rooms.  And  after  he 
had  enjoyed  her,  he  desired  that,  according  to  the 
custom  of  French  gentlemen,  his  two  comrades 
might  partake  also  of  the  same  pleasure.  So  she 
admitted  them  one  after  the  other.  And  when  all 
this  was  done,  as  they  sat  together,  she  told  them 
if  they  knew  well  who  she  was,  none  of  them 
would  have  ventured  updn  her.  Thereupon  she 
whistled  three  times  and  all  vanished.    The  next 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  117 

morning  the  two  soldiers  that  had  gone  with 
Lieutenant  Jaquette  were  found  dead  under  the 
city  wall  amongst  the  ordure  and  excrements,  and 
Jaquette  himself  a  little  way  off  half  dead,  who 
was  taken  up,  and  coming  to  himself  again,  con- 
fessed all  this,  but  died  presently  after. 

The  next  week  I  am  to  go  down  the  Loire 
towards  Paris,  and  thence  as  soon  as  I  can  for 
England,  where,  amongst  the  rest  of  my  friends, 
whom  I  so  much  long  to  see  after  this  triennial 
separation,  you  are  like  to  be  one  of  my  first  ob- 
jects. In  the  meantime  I  wish  the  same  happi- 
ness may  attend  you  at  home  as  I  desire  to  attend 
me  homewards,  for  I  am,  truly  yours, 

J.  H. 

Lyons,  5  December  1621. 


EPISTOLiE    HO-ELIANiE 
SECTION  II 


SECTION    II 


To  77iy  Father 

IT  hath  pleased  God  after  almost  three  years' 
peregrination  by  land  and  sea,  to  bring  me 
back  safely  to  London  ;  but  although  I  am  come 
safely,  I  am  come  sickly;  for  when  I  landed  in 
Venice,  after  so  long  a  sea-voyage  from  Spain,  I 
was  afraid  the  same  defluxion  of  salt  rheum  which 
fell  from  my  temples  into  my  throat  in  Oxford, 
and  distilling  upon  the  uvulla  impeached  my 
utterance  a  little  to  this  day,  had  found  the  same 
channel  again,  which  caused  me  to  have  an  issue 
made  in  my  left  arm  for  the  diversion  of  the  hu- 
mour. I  was  well  ever  after  till  I  came  to  Rouen, 
and  there  I  fell  sick  of  a  pain  in  the  head,  which, 
with  the  issue,  I  have  carried  with  me  to  England. 
Doctor  Harvey,  who  is  my  physician,  tells  me  that 
it  may  turn  to  a  consumption,  therefore  he  hath 
stopped  the  issue,  telling  me  there  is  no  danger 
at  all  in  it,  in  regard  I  have  not  worn  it  a  full 
twelvemonth.  My  Brother,  I  thank  him,  hath 
been  very  careful  of  me  in  this  my  sickness,  and 
hath  come  often  to  visit  me.    I  thank  God  I  have 


122  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

passed  the  brunt  of  it,  and  am  recovering,  and 
picking  up  my  crumbs  apace.  There  is  a  flaunt- 
ing French  Ambassador  come  over  lately,  and  I 
believe  his  errand  is  nought  else  but  compliment, 
for  the  King  of  France  being  lately  at  Calais,  and 
so  in  sight  of  England,  he  sent  his  ambassador. 
Monsieur  Cadenet,  expressly  to  visit  our  king.  He 
had  audience  two  days  since,  where  he  with  his 
train  of  ruffling  long-haired  monsieurs  carried  him- 
self in  such  a  light  garb,  that  after  the  audience, 
the  king  asked  my  Lord  Keeper  Bacon  what  he 
thought  of  the  French  Ambassador;  he  answered 
that  he  was  a  tall,  proper  man  ;  Aye,  his  Majesty 
replied,  but  what  think  you  of  his  head-piece  ?  Is 
he  a  proper  man  for  the  office  of  an  ambassador. 
"  Sir,"  said  Bacon,  "  tall  men  are  like  high  houses 
of  four  or  five  storys,  wherein  commonly  the  up- 
permost room  is  worst  furnished." 

So,  desiring  my  brothers  and  sisters,  with  the 
rest  of  my  cousins  and  friends  in  the  country, 
may  be  acquainted  with  my  safe  return  to  Eng- 
land, and  that  you  would  please  to  let  me  hear 
from  you  by  the  next  conveniency,  I  rest,  your 
dutiful  son, 

J.  H. 

London,  i  February  1621. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  123 

II 

To  Rich.  Aithaviy  Esq. ;  at  Nor  berry 

^^ALFE  pars  animae  dimidiata  meae.  Hail,  half 
i^  my  soul,  my  dear  Dick,  etc.  I  was  no  sooner 
returned  to  the  sweet  bosom  of  England,  and  had 
breathed  the  smoke  of  this  town,  but  my  memory 
ran  suddenly  on  you,  the  idea  of  you  hath  almost 
ever  since  so  filled  up  and  engrossed  my  imagina- 
tion, that  I  can  think  on  nothing  else,  the  love  of 
you  swells  both  in  my  breast  and  brain  with  such 
a  pregnancy  that  nothing  can  deliver  me  of  this 
violent  high  passion  but  the  sight  of  you.  Let 
me  despair  if  I  lie,  there  was  never  female  longed 
more  after  anything  by  reason  of  her  growing  em- 
bryon,  than  I  do  for  your  presence.  Therefore,  I 
pray  you  make  haste  to  save  my  longing,  and 
tantalise  me  no  longer  ('tis  but  three  hours'  rid- 
ing), for  the  sight  of  you  will  be  more  precious 
to  me  than  any  one  object  I  have  seen  (and  I  have 
seen  many  rare  ones)  in  all  my  three  years'  travel; 
and  if  you  take  this  for  a  compliment  (because  I 
am  newly  come  from  France)  you  are  much  mis- 
taken in  your 

J.  H. 

London,  i  February  1621. 


124  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

III 

To  D.  Caldwall,  Esq.;  at  Batters ea 

MY  DEAR  DAN,—  I  am  come  at  last  to 
London,  but  not  without  some  danger,  and 
through  divers  difficulties,  for  I  fell  sick  in  France, 
and  came  so  over  to  Kent.  And  my  journey  from 
the  seaside  hither  was  more  tedious  to  me  than  from 
Rome  to  Rouen,  where  I  grew  first  indisposed  ; 
and  in  good  faith  I  cannot  remember  anything  to 
this  hour  how  I  came  from  Gravesend  hither,  I 
was  so  stupefied,  and  had  lost  the  knowledge  of 
all  things.  But  I  am  come  to  mvself  indifferently 
well  since,  I  thank  God  for  it,  and  you  cannot  im- 
agine how  much  the  sight  of  vou,  much  more  your 
society,  would  revive  me  ;  your  presence  would  be 
a  cordial  unto  me  more  restorative  than  exalted 
gold,  more  precious  than  the  powder  of  pearl, 
whereas  your  absence,  if  it  continue  long,  will 
prove  unto  me  like  the  dust  of  diamonds,  which  is 
incurable  poison.  I  pray  be  not  accessory  to  my 
death,  but  hasten  to  comfort  your  so  long,  weather- 
beaten  friend.  —  Yours, 

J.  H. 

London,  February  i,  1621. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  125 


IV 

To  Sir  James  Crofts ;  at  the  L.  Darcy  s  in  St 
Osit/j 

I  AM  got  again  safely  to  this  side  of  the  sea,  and 
though  I  was  in  a  very  sickly  case  when  I  first 
arrived,  yet  thanks  be  to  God  I  am  upon  point 
of  perfect  recovery,  whereunto  the  sucking  in  of 
English  air  and  the  sight  of  some  friends  conduced 
not  a  little. 

There  is  fearful  news  come  from  Germany.  You 
know  how  the  Bohemians  shook  off  the  Emperor's 
yoke,  and  how  the  great  Council  of  Prague  fell 
to  such  a  hurly-burly  that  some  of  the  imperial 
counsellors  were  hurled  out  at  the  windows.  You 
heard  also,  I  doubt  not,  how  they  offered  the 
crown  to  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  and  he  waiving  it, 
they  sent  ambassadors  to  the  Palsgrave,  whom  they 
thought  might  prove  ^^r  negotio,  and  to  be  able  to 
go  through-stitch  with  the  work,  in  regard  of  his 
powerful  alliance,  the  King  of  Great  Britain  being 
his  father-in-law,  the  King  of  Denmark,  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  the  Marquis  of  Brandenburg,  the  Duke 
Bouillon,  his  uncles,  the  States  of  Holland  his  con- 
federates, the  French  king  his  friend,  and  the  Duke 
of  Bavaria  his  near  ally.  The  Prince  Palsgrave 
made  some  difficulty  at  first,  and  most  of  his 
counsellors  opposed  it ;  others  incited   him  to  it, 


126  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

and  amongst  other  hortatives  they  told  him  that 
if  he  had  the  courage  to  venture  upon  a  King  of 
England's  sole  daughter  he  might  very  well  venture 
upon  a  sovereign  crown  when  it  was  tendered  him. 
Add  hereunto  that  the  States  of  Holland  did  mainly 
advance  the  work,  and  there  was  good  reason  in 
policy  for  it;  for  their  twelve  years'  truce  being 
then  upon  point  of  expiring  with  Spain,  and  find- 
ing our  king  so  wedded  to  peace  that  nothing 
could  divorce  him  from  it,  they  alighted  upon  this 
design  to  make  him  draw  his  sword,  and  engage 
him  against  the  house  of  Austria  for  the  defence 
of  his  sole  daughter  and  his  grandchildren.  What 
His  Majesty  will  do  hereafter  I  will  not  presume 
to  foretell,  but  hitherto  he  hath  given  little  coun- 
tenance to  the  business,  nay,  he  utterly  misliked  it 
first.  For  whereas  Doctor  Hall  gave  the  Prince 
Palsgrave  the  title  of  King  of  Bohemia  in  his  pul- 
pit prayer,  he  had  a  check  for  his  pains,  for  I  heard 
His  Majesty  should  say  that  there  is  an  implicit  tie 
amongst  kings  which  obligeth  them,  though  there 
be  no  other  interest  or  particular  engagement  to 
stick  unto,  and  right  one  another  upon  insurrection 
of  subjects.  Therefore  he  had  more  reason  to  be 
against  the  Bohemians  than  to  adhere  to  them  in 
the  deposition  of  their  sovereign  prince.  The  King 
of  Denmark  sings  the  same  note,  nor  will  he  also 
allow  him  the  appellation  of  king.  But  the  fear- 
ful news  I  told  you  of  at  the  beginning  of  this 
letter  is  that  there  are  fresh  tidings  brought  how 
the  Prince  Palsgrave  had  a  well-appointed  army 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  127 

of  about  25,000  horse  and  foot  near  Prague,  but 
the  Duke  of  Bavaria  came  with  scarce  half  the 
number,  and  notwithstanding  his  long  march  gave 
them  a  sudden  battle  and  utterly  routed  them, 
insomuch  that  the  new  King  of  Bohemia,  having 
not  worn  the  crown  a  whole  twelvemonth,  was 
forced  to  fly  with  his  queen  and  children,  and  after 
many  difficulties  they  write  that  they  are  come  to 
the  castle  of  Castrein,  the  Duke  of  Brandenburg's 
country,  his  uncle.  This  news  afi^ects  both  court 
and  city  here  with  much  heaviness. 

I  send  you  my  humble  thanks  for  the  noble  cor- 
respondence you  pleased  to  hold  with  me  abroad, 
and  I  desire  to  know  by  the  next  when  you  come 
to  London,  that  I  may  have  the  comfort  of  the 
sight  of  you  after  so  long  an  absence.  —  Your  true 
servitor,  J.  H. 

March  the  i,  1621. 

V 

To  Dr  Fr.  Mans e II ;  at  All-Souls  in  Oxford 

I  AM  returned  safe  from  my  foreign  employ- 
ment, from  my  three  years'  travel.  I  did  my 
best  to  make  what  advantage  I  could  of  the  time, 
though  not  so  much  as  1  should;  for  I  find  that 
peregrination  (well  used)  is  a  very  profitable 
school ;  it  is  a  running  academy,  and  nothing 
conduceth  more  to  the  building  up  and  perfect- 
ing of  a  man.   Your  honourable  uncle.  Sir  Robert 


128  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

Mansell,  who  is  now  in  the  Mediterranean,  hath 
been  very  notable  to  me,  and  I  shall  ever 
acknowledge  a  good  part  of  my  education  from 
him.  He  hath  melted  vast  sums  of  money  in  the 
glass  business,  a  business  indeed  more  proper  for 
a  merchant  than  a  courtier.  I  heard  the  king 
should  say  that  he  wondered  Robin  Mansell,  be- 
ing a  seaman,  whereby  he  hath  got  so  much  hon- 
our, should  fall  from  water  to  tamper  with  fire, 
which  are  two  contrary  elements.  My  father  fears 
that  this  glass  employment  will  be  too  brittle  a 
foundation  for  me  to  build  a  fortune  upon,  and 
Sir  Robert  being  now  at  my  coming  back  so  far 
at  sea,  and  his  return  uncertain,  my  father  hath 
advised  me  to  hearken  after  some  other  condi- 
tion. I  attempted  to  go  secretary  to  Sir  John 
Ayres  to  Constantinople,  but  I  came  too  late. 
You  have  got  yourself  a  great  deal  of  good 
repute  by  the  voluntary  resignation  you  made  of 
the  principality  of  Jesus  College  to  Sir  Eubule 
Thelwall  in  hope  that  he  will  be  a  considerable 
benefactor  to  it.  I  pray  God  he  perform  what  he 
promiseth,  and  that  he  be  not  overpartial  to 
North  Wales  men.  Now  that  I  give  you  the  first 
summons,  I  pray  you  make  me  happy  with  your 
correspondence  by  letters.  There  is  no  excuse  or 
impediment  at  all  left  now,  for  you  are  sure  where 
to  find  me,  whereas  I  was  a  landloper,  as  the 
Dutchman  saith,  a  wanderer  and  subject  to  uncer- 
tain removes,  and  short  sojourns  in  divers  places 
before.    So  with  appreciation  of  all  happiness  to 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  129 

you   here  and   hereafter,  I   rest,  at  your  friendly 
dispose, 

J.  H. 

March  5,  161 8  [21]. 

VI 

To  Sir  Eubiile  Thelwall^  Knight,  and  Principal 
of 'Jesus  College  in  Oxford 

I  SEND  you  most  due  and  humble  thanks,  that, 
notwithstanding  I  have  played  the  truant  and 
been  absent  so  long  from  Oxford,  you  have  been 
pleased  lately  to  make  choice  of  me  to  be  Fel- 
low of  your  new  Foundation  in  Jesus  College, 
whereof  I  was  once  a  member.  As  the  quality  of 
mv  fortunes  and  course  of  life  run  now,  I  cannot 
make  present  use  of  this  your  great  favour,  or  pro- 
motion rather,  yet  I  do  highly  value  it  and  humbly 
accept  of  it,  and  intend,  by  your  permission,  to  re- 
serve and  lay  it  by  as  a  good  warm  garment  against 
rough  weather  if  any  fall  on  me.  With  this  my 
expression  of  thankfulness,  I  do  congratulate  the 
great  honour  you  have  purchased  both  bv  your 
own  beneficence  and  by  your  painful  endeavour 
besides,  to  perfect  that  National  College,  which 
hereafter  is  like  to  be  a  monument  of  your  fame 
as  well  as  a  seminary  of  learning  and  will  perpetu- 
ate your  memory  to  all  posterity. 

God  Almighty  prosper  and  perfect  your  under- 
takings, and  provide  for  you  in  heaven  those  re- 


I30  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

wards  which  such  public  works  of  piety  use  to  be 
crowned  withal ;  it  is  the  appreciation  of,  your  truly 
devoted  servitor,  J.  H. 

London,  idibus  March  1621. 

VII 

To  my  Father 

ACCORDING  to  the  advice  you  sent  me  in 
your  last,  while  I  sought  after  a  new  course 
of  employment,  a  new  employment  hath  lately 
sought  after  mg  ;  my  Lord  Savage  hath  two  young 
gentlemen  to  his  sons,  and  I  am  to  go  travel  with 
them.  Sir  James  Crofts  (who  so  much  respects 
you)  was  the  main  agent  in  this  business,  and  I  am 
to  go  shortly  to  Long  Melford  in  Suffolk  and 
thence  to  Saint  Osith  in  Essex  to  the  Lord  Darcy. 
Queen  Anne  is  lately  dead  of  a  dropsy  in  Den- 
mark House,  which  is  held  to  be  one  of  the  fatal 
events  that  followed  the  last  fearful  comet  that  rose 
in  the  tail  of  the  constellation  of  Virgo,  which  some 
ignorant  astronomers  that  write  of  it,  would  fix  in 
the  heavens,  and  that  as  far  above  the  orb  of  the 
moon  as  the  moon  is  from  the  earth.  But  this  is 
nothing  in  comparison  of  those  hideous  fires  that 
are  kindled  in  Germany  blown  first  by  the  Bohe- 
mians, which  is  like  to  be  a  war  without  end,  for 
the  whole  House  of  Austria  is  interested  in  the 
quarrel,  and  it  is  not  the  custom  of  that  house  to 
sit  by  any  affront  or  forget  it  quickly.     Queen 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  131 

Anne  left  a  world  of  brave  jewels  behind  ;  but  one, 
Piero,  an  outlandish  man  who  had  the  keeping  of 
them,  embezzled  many  and  is  run  away.  She  left 
all  she  had  to  Prince  Charles,  whom  she  ever  loved 
best  of  all  her  children,  nor  do  I  hear  of  any  legacy 
she  left  at  all  to  her  daughter  in  Germany  ;  for  that 
match,  some  say,  lessened  something  of  her  affec- 
tion towards  her  ever  since,  so  that  she  would  often 
call  her  Goody  Palsgrave,  nor  could  she  abide  Sec- 
retary Winwood  ever  after,  who  was  one  of  the  chief- 
est  instruments  to  bring  that  match  about,  as  also 
for  the  rendition  of  the  cautionary  towns  in  the  Low 
Countries,  Flushing  and  Brill,  with  the  Ramma- 
kins.  I  was  lately  with  Sir  John  Walter  and  others 
of  your  counsel  about  law  business,  and  some  of 
them  told  me  that  Master  J.  Lloyd,  your  adversary, 
is  one  of  the  shrewdest  solicitors  in  all  the  thir- 
teen shires  of  Wales,  being  so  habituated  to  law 
suits  and  wrangling,  that  he  knows  any  of  the  least 
starting  holes  in  every  court.  I  could  wish  you  had 
made  a  fair  end  with  him,  for  besides  the  cumber 
and  trouble,  specially  to  those  that  dwell  at  such  a 
huge  distance  from  Westminster  Hall  as  you  do, 
Law  is  a  shrewd  pickpurse,  and  the  lawyer,  as  I 
heard  one  say  wittily  not  long  since,  is  like  a  Christ- 
mas-box which  is  sure  to  get  whosoever  loseth. 

So  with  the  continuance  of  my  due  and  daily 
prayers  for  your  health,  with  my  love  to  my 
brothers  and  sisters,  I  rest,  your  dutiful  son, 

J.  H. 

March  20,  16 18. 


132  FAMILIAR  LETTER^ 

VIII 

To  Dan  Caldwall,  Esq. ;  from  the  Lord  Sav- 
age's House  in  Long  Me  If  or d 

My  dear  D., 

THOUGH  considering  my  former  condition 
of  life  I  may  now  be  called  a  country  man, 
vet  you  cannot  call  me  a  rustic  (as  you  would  im- 
ply in  your  letter)  as  long  as  I  live  in  so  civil  and 
noble  a  family,  as  long  as  I  lodge  in  so  virtuous 
and  regular  a  house  as  any  I  believe  in  the  land, 
both  for  economical  government  and  the  choice 
company,  for  I  never  saw  yet  such  a  dainty  race 
of  children  in  all  my  life  together,  I  never  saw  yet 
such  an  orderly  and  punctual  attendance  of  ser- 
vants, nor  a  great  house  so  neatly  kept ;  here  one 
shall  see  no  dog,  nor  a  cat,  nor  cage  to  cause  any 
nastiness  within  the  body  of  the  house.  The 
kitchen  and  gutters  and  other  offices  of  noise 
and  drudgery  are  at  the  fag-end,  there  's  a  back- 
gate  for  beggars  and  the  meaner  sort  of  swains  to 
come  in  at.  The  stables  butt  upon  the  park,  which 
for  a  cheerful  rising  ground,  for  groves  and  brows- 
ings for  the  deer,  for  rivulets  of  water,  may  com- 
pare with  any,  for  it  shines  in  the  whole  land;  it 
is  opposite  to  the  front  of  the  great  house,  whence 
from  the  gallery  one  may  see  much  of  the  game 
when  they  are  a  hunting.  Now  for  the  gardening 
and  costlv  choice  flowers,  for  ponds,  for  stately 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  133 

large  walks,  green  and  gravelly,  for  orchards  and 
choice  fruits  of  all  sorts,  there  are  few  the  like  in 
England  :  here  you  have  your  Bon  Christian  pear 
and  Bergamot  in  perfection,  your  Muscadel  grapes, 
in  such  plenty  that  there  are  some  bottles  of  wine 
sent  every  year  to  the  king  ;  and  one,  Mr  Daniel, 
a  worthy  gentleman  hard  by,  who  hath  been  long 
abroad,  makes  good  store  in  his  vintage.  Truly  this 
house  of  Long-Melford,  though  it  be  not  so  great, 
yet  it  is  so  well  compacted  and  contrived,  with  such 
dainty  conveniences  every  way,  that  if  you  saw 
the  landscape  of  it,  you  would  be  mightily  taken 
with  it,  and  it  would  serve  for  a  choice  pattern  to 
build  and  contrive  a  house  by.  If  you  come  this 
summer  to  your  manor  of  Sheriff  in  Essex,  you 
will  not  be  far  off  hence  ;  if  your  occasions  will 
permit,  it  will  be  worth  your  coming  hither, 
though  it  be  only  to  see  him,  who  would  think  it 
a  short  journev  to  go  from  Saint  David's  Head 
to  Dover  Cliffs  to  see  and  serve  you,  were  there 
occasion.  —  If  you  would  know  who  the  same  is, 
'tis  —  Yours 

J.  H. 
20  March  1619. 


134  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

IX 

To  Robert  Brown,  Esquire 

THANKS  for  one  curtesie  is  a  good  usher 
to  bring  on  another.  Therefore  it  is  my 
policy  at  this  time  to  thank  you  most  heartily  for 
your  late  copious  letter  to  draw  on  a  second.  I 
say  I  thank  you  a  thousand  times  over  for  yours 
of  the  third  of  this  present,  which  abounded  with 
such  variety  of  news,  and  ample  well-couched  re- 
lations, that  I  made  many  friends  by  it ;  yet  I  am 
sorry  for  the  quality  of  some  of  your  news,  that 
Sir  Robert  Mansell,  being  now  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean with  a  considerable  naval  strength  of  ours 
against  the  Moors,  to  do  the  Spaniard  a  pleasure, 
Marquis  Spinola  should,  in  a  hogling  way,  change 
his  master  for  the  time,  and,  taking  commission 
from  the  Emperor,  become  his  servant  for  invad- 
ing the  Palatinate  with  the  forces  of  the  King  of 
Spain  in  the  Netherlands.  I  am  sorry  also  the 
princes  of  the  union  should  be  so  stupid  as  to 
suffer  him  to  take  Oppenheim  by  a  Parthian  kind 
of  back  stratagem,  in  appearing  before  the  town 
and  making  semblance  afterwards  to  go  for 
Worms,  and  then  perceiving  the  forces  of  the 
United  Princes  to  go  for  succouring  of  that,  to 
turn  back  and  take  the  town  he  intended  first, 
whereby  I  fear  he  will  be  quickly  master  of  the 
rest.    Surely  I  believe  there  may  be  some  treach- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  135 

ery  in  it,  and  that  the  Marquis  of  Ansback,  the 
general,  was  overcome  by  pistols  made  of  Indian 
ingots,  rather  than  of  steel,  else  an  army  of 
40,000,  which  he  had  under  his  command,  might 
have  made  its  party  good  against  Spinola's,  less 
than  20,000,  though  never  such  choice  veterans, 
but  what  will  not  gold  do?  It  will  make  a  pigmy 
too  hard  for  a  giant :  there  's  no  fence  or  fortress 
against  an  ass  laden  with  gold.  It  was  the  saying 
you  know  of  his  father,  whom  partial  and  ig- 
norant antiquity  cries  up  to  have  conquered  the 
world,  and  that  he  sighed  there  were  no  more 
worlds  to  conquer,  though  he  had  never  one  of 
the  three  old  parts  of  the  then  known  world  en- 
tirely to  himself.  I  desire  to  know  what  is  be- 
come of  that  handful  of  men  His  Majestic  sent 
to  Germany  under  Sir  Horace  Vere,  which  he  was 
bound  to  do,  as  he  is  one  of  the  Protestant 
princes  of  the  union,  and  what 's  become  of  Sir 
Arthur  Chichester,  who  is  gone  Ambassador  to 
those  parts. 

Dear  Sir,  I  pray  make  me  happy  still  with  your 
letters ;  it  is  a  mighty  pleasure  for  us  country 
folks  to  hear  how  matters  pass  in  London  and 
abroad.  You  know  I  have  not  the  opportunity  to 
correspond  with  you  in  like  kind,  but  may  happily 
hereafter  when  the  tables  are  turned,  when  I  am 
in  London  and  you  in  the  west.  Whereas  you  are 
desirous  to  hear  how  it  fares  with  me,  I  pray  know 
that  I  live  in  one  of  the  noblest  houses  and  best 
air  of  England.    There  is  a  dainty  park  adjoining, 


136  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

where  I  often  wander  up  and  down,  and  I  have 
my  several  walks.  I  make  one  to  represent  the 
Royal  Exchange,  the  other  the  middle  aisle  of 
Paul's,  another  Westminster  Hall;  and  when  I 
pass  through  the  herd  of  deer  methinks  I  am  in 
Cheapside.  So  with  a  full  return  of  the  same 
measure  of  love,  as  you  pleased  to  send  me,  I 
rest  yours, 


J.  H. 


24  May  1611. 


X 

To  R.  A  It  ham.  Esquire ;  from  Saint  Osith 

LIFE  itself  is  not  so  dear  unto  me  as  your 
friendship,  nor  virtue  in  her  best  colours  as 
precious  as  your  love,  which  was  lately  so  lively 
pourtrayed  unto  me  in  yours  of  the  5th  of  this 
present.  Methinks  your  letter  was  like  a  piece  of 
tissue  richly  embroidered  with  rare  flowers  up  and 
down,  with  curious  representations  and  landscapes. 
Albeit  I  have  as  much  stuff  as  you  of  this  kind 
(I  mean  matter  of  love),  yet  I  want  such  a  loom 
to  work  it  upon  I  cannot  draw  it  to  such  a  curious 
web.  Therefore  you  must  be  content  with  homely 
polldavie  ware  from  me,  for  you  must  not  expect 
from  us  country  folk  such  urbanities  and  quaint 
invention  that  you,  who  are  daily  conversant  with 
the  wits  of  the  court,  and  of  the  Inns  of  Court, 
abound  withal. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  137 

Touching  your  intention  to  travel  beyond  the 
seas  the  next  spring,  and  the  intimation  you  make 
how  happy  you  would  be  in  my  company,  I  let 
vou  know  that  I  am  glad  of  the  one,  and  much 
thank  you  for  the  other,  and  will  think  upon  it, 
but  I  cannot  resolve  yet  upon  anything.  I  am 
now  here  at  the  Earl  Rivers,  a  noble  and  great 
knowing  lord,  who  hath  seen  much  of  the  world 
abroad.  My  Lady  Savage,  his  daughter,  is  also 
here  with  divers  of  her  children.  I  hope  this 
Hilary  term  to  be  merry  in  London,  and  amongst 
others  to  re-enjoy  your  conversation  principally, 
for  I  esteem  the  society  of  no  soul  upon  earth 
more  than  yours.  Till  then  I  bid  you  farewell, 
and  as  the  season  invites  me  I  wish  you  a  merry 
Christmas,  resting  yours  while 

Jam.  Howell. 

December  20,  i6ai. 

XI 

To   Captain    Thomas   Porter  upon   his   return 
from  Algiers  Voyage 

Noble  Captain, 

I  CONGRATULATE  your  safe  return  from 
the  Straits,  but  am  sorry  you  were  so  straitened 
in  your  commission  that  you  could  not  attempt 
what  such  a  brave  naval  power  of  twenty  men-of- 
war,  such  a  gallant  general  and  other  choice  know- 
ing commanders  might  have  performed  if  they 


138  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

had  had  line  enough.  1  know  the  lightness  and 
nimbleness  of  Algiers  ships  ;  when  I  lived  lately  in 
Alicante  and  other  places  upon  the  Mediterranean, 
we  would  every  week  hear  some  of  them  chased, 
but  very  seldom  taken  ;  for  a  great  ship  following 
one  of  them  may  be  said  to  be  as  a  mastiff  dog 
running  after  a  hare.  I  wonder  the  Spaniard  came 
short  of  the  promised  supply  for  furtherance  of 
that  notable  adventurous  design  you  had  to  fire 
the  ships  and  galleys  in  Algiers  road.  And  accord- 
ing to  the  relation  you  pleased  to  send  me  it  was 
one  of  the  bravest  enterprises  and  had  proved  such 
a  glorious  exploit  that  no  story  could  have  paral- 
leled ;  but  it  seems  their  hoggies,  magicians  and 
marlbots  were  tampering  with  the  ill  spirit  of  the 
air  all  the  while,  which  brought  down  such  a  still 
cataract  of  rain  waters  suddenly  upon  you  to  hinder 
the  working  of  your  fireworks.  Such  a  disaster, 
the  story  tells  us,  befell  Charles  the  Emperor,  but 
far  worse  than  yours,  for  he  lost  ships  and  multi- 
tudes of  men,  who  were  made  slaves,  but  you  came 
off  with  loss  of  eight  men  only,  and  Algiers  is 
anothergets  thing  now  than  she  was  then,  being, 
I  believe,  a  hundred  degrees  stronger  by  land  and 
sea,  and  for  the  latter  strength  we  may  thank  our 
countryman  Ward,  and  Danskey  the  butterbag 
Hollander,  which  may  be  said  to  have  been  two 
of  the  fatalest  and  most  infamous  men  that  ever 
Christendom  bred  ;  for  the  one  taking  all  English- 
men, and  the  other  all  Dutchmen,  and  bringing 
the  ships  and  ordnance  to   Algiers,  they  may  be 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  139 

said  to  have  been  the  chief  raisers  of  those  pica- 
roons to  be  pirates,  which  are  now  come  to  that 
height  of  strength  that  thev  daily  endamage  and 
affront  all  Christendom.  When  I  consider  all  the 
circumstances  and  success  of  this  your  voyage; 
when  I  consider  the  narrowness  of  your  com- 
mission, which  was  as  lame  as  the  Clerk  that 
kept  it ;  when  I  find  that  you  secured  the  seas 
and  traffic  all  the  while,  for  I  did  not  hear  of  one 
ship  taken  while  you  were  abroad;  when  I  hear 
how  you  brought  back  all  the  fleet  without  the 
least  disgrace  or  damage  by  foe  or  foul  weather 
to  any  ship,  I  conclude,  and  so  do  far  better  judg- 
ments than  mine,  that  you  did  what  possibly  could 
be  done.  Let  those  that  repine  at  the  one  in  the 
hundred  (which  was  imposed  upon  all  the  Le- 
vant merchants  for  the  support  of  this  fleet) 
mutter  what  they  will,  that  you  went  first  to 
Gravesend,  then  to  the  Land's  End,  and  after  to 
no  end. 

I  have  sent  you  for  your  welcome  home  (in 
part)  two  barrels  of  Colchester  oysters  which  were 
provided  for  my  Lord  of  Colchester  himself,  there- 
fore I  presume  they  are  good  and  all  green  finned. 
I  shall  shortly  follow,  but  not  to  stay  long  in 
England,  for  I  think  I  must  over  again  speedily 
to  push  on  my  fortunes.  So,  my  dear  Tom,  I  am 
de  todas  mis  entranas^  from  the  centre  of  my  heart 
I  am,  yours,.  ^     !_, 

St   Osith,  December    idii. 


140  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XII 

To  my  Father  upon  my  second  going  to  Travel 

I  AM  lately  returned  to  London,  having  been 
all  this  while  in  a  very  noble  family  in  the 
country  where  I  found  far  greater  respects  than  I 
deserved.  I  was  to  go  with  two  of  my  Lord  Sav- 
age's sons  to  travel,  but  finding  myself  too  young 
for  such  a  charge,  and  our  religion  differing,  I  have 
made  choice  to  go  over  comrade  to  a  very  worthy 
gentleman.  Baron  Altham's  son,  whom  I  knew  in 
Staines,  when  my  brother  was  there.  Truly  I  hold 
him  to  be  one  of  the  hopefulest  young  men  of  this 
kingdom  for  parts  and  person  ;  he  is  full  of  ex- 
cellent solid  knowledge,  as  the  mathematics,  the 
law,  and  other  material  studies  ;  besides  I  should 
have  been  tied  to  have  stayed  three  years  abroad 
in  the  other  employment  at  least ;  but  I  hope  to  go 
back  from  this  by  God's  grace  before  a  twelve- 
month be  at  an  end,  at  which  time  I  hope  the  hand 
of  Providence  will  settle  me  in  some  stable  home- 
fortune. 

The  news  is  that  the  Prince  Palsgrave,  with  his 
lady  and  children,  are  come  to  the  Hague  in  Hol- 
land, having  made  a  long  progress  or  rather  a  pil- 
grimage about  Germany  from  Prague.  The  old 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  his  uncle,  is  chosen  elector  and 
arch-sewer  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  his  place  (but 
as  they  say  in  an   imperfect  diet),  and  with  this 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  141 

proviso,  that  the  transferring  of  this  election  upon 
the  Bavarian  shall  not  prejudice  the  next  heir. 
There  is  one  Count  Mansfelt  that  begins  to  get  a 
great  name  in  Germany,  and  he  with  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  who  is  a  temporal  Bishop  of  Halver- 
stadt,  have  a  considerable  army  on  foot  for  the 
Lady  Elizabeth,  which  in  the  Low  Countries  and 
some  parts  of  Germany  is  called  the  Queen  of 
Bohemia,  and  for  her  winning,  princely  comport- 
ment, the  Queen  of  Hearts.  Sir  Arthur  Chichester 
is  come  back  from  the  Palatinate,  much  complain- 
ing of  the  small  army  that  was  sent  thither  under 
Sir  Horace  Vere,  which  should  have  been  greater, 
or  none  at  all. 

My  Lord  of  Buckingham,  having  been  long 
since  Master  of  the  Horse  at  Court,  is  now  made 
master  also  of  all  the  wooden  horses  of  the  king- 
dom, which  indeed  are  our  best  horses,  for  he  is  to 
be  High  Admiral  of  England,  so  he  is  become 
dominus  equorum  et  aquarum.  The  late  Lord  Trea- 
surer Cranfield  grows  also  very  powerful,  but  the 
city  hates  him  for  having  betrayed  their  greatest 
secrets,  which  he  was  capable  to  know  more  than 
another,  having  been  formerly  a  merchant. 

I  think  I  shall  have  no  opportunity  to  write  to 
you  again  till  I  be  the  other  side  of  the  sea  ;  there- 
fore I  humbly  take  my  leave,  and  ask  your  bless- 
ing, that  I  may  the  better  prosper  in  my  proceed- 
ings.   So  I  am,  your  dutiful  son,  ,    tt 

March  19,  1622. 


142  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XIII 

To  Sir  yohn  Smith,  Knight 

THE  first  ground  I  set  foot  upon  after  this 
my  second  trans-marine  voyage  was  Trevere 
(the  Scots  staple)  in  Zealand,  thence  we  sailed  to 
Holland,  in  which  passage  we  might  see  divers 
steeples  and  turrets  under  water,  of  towns  that,  as 
we  were  told,  were  swallowed  up  by  a  deluge 
within  the  memory  of  man.  We  went  afterwards 
to  the  Hague,  where  there  are  hard  by,  though  in 
several  places,  two  wonderful  things  to  be  seen  — 
the  one  of  art  the  other  of  nature.  That  of  art  is 
a  waggon  or  ship,  or  a  monster  mixed  of  both, 
like  the  hippocentaur,  who  was  half  man  and  half 
horse.  This  engine  hath  wheels  and  sails,  that 
will  hold  above  twenty  people,  and  goes  with  the 
wind,  being  drawn  or  moved  by  nothing  else,  and 
will  run,  the  wind  being  good  and  the  sails 
hoisted  up,  above  fifteen  miles  an  hour  upon  the 
even  hard  sands.  They  say  this  invention  was 
found  out  to  entertain  Spinola  when  he  came 
hither  to  treat  of  the  last  truce.  That  wonder  of 
nature  is  a  church  monument,  where  an  earl  and 
a  lady  are  engraven  with  365  children  about  them, 
which  were  all  delivered  at  one  birth  ;  they  were 
half  male,  half  female ;  the  basin  hangs  in  the 
church  which  carried  them  to  be  christened,  and 
the  bishop's  name  who  did  it ;  and  the  story  of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  143 

this  miracle,  with  the  year  and  the  day  of  the 
month  mentioned,  which  is  not  yet  aoo  years 
ago  ;  and  the  story  is  this  :  That  countess  walk- 
ing about  her  door  after  dinner,  there  came  a 
beggar-woman  with  two  children  upon  her  back 
to  beg  alms  ;  the  countess  asking  whether  those 
children  were  her  own,  she  answered  she  had 
them  both  at  one  birth,  and  by  one  father,  who 
was  her  husband.  The  countess  would  not  only 
not  give  her  any  alms,  but  reviled  her  bitterly, 
saying  it  was  impossible  for  one  man  to  get  two 
children  at  once.  The  beggar-woman  being  thus 
provoked  with  ill  words,  and  without  alms,  fell  to 
imprecations,  that  it  should  please  God  to  show 
His  judgment  upon  her,  and  that  she  might  bear 
at  one  birth  as  many  children  as  there  be  days  in 
the  year,  which  she  did  before  the  same  year's 
end,  having  never  borne  child  before.  We  are  now 
in  North  Holland,  where  I  never  saw  so  many, 
among  so  few,  sick  of  leprosy  ;  and  the  reason  is, 
because  they  commonly  eat  abundance  of  fresh 
fish.  A  gentleman  told  me  that  the  women  of 
this  country  when  they  are  delivered,  there  comes 
out  of  the  womb  a  living  creature  besides  the 
child,  called  zucchie,  likest  a  bat  of  any  other 
creature,  which  the  midwives  throw  into  the  fire, 
holding  sheets  before  the  chimney  lest  it  should 
flv  away.  Master  Altham  desires  his  service  be 
presented  to  you  and  your  lady,  to  Sir  John 
Franklin  and  all  at  the  Hill,  the  like  do  I 
humbly  crave  at    your  hands.    The    Italian  and 


144  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

French  manuscripts  you  pleased  to  favour  me 
withal,  I  left  at  Mr  Scil's  the  stationer,  whence  if 
you  have  them  not  already,  you  may  please  to 
send  for  them.  So  in  all  affection  I  kiss  your 
hands  and  am  your  humble  servitor. 

J.  H. 

Trevere,  lo  of  April,  1623. 

XIV 

To  the  Right  Honourable,  the  Lord  Viscount 
Colchester,  after  Karl  Rivers 

Right  Honourable, 

THE  commands  your  lordship  pleased  to  im- 
pose upon  me  when  I  left  England,  and  those 
high  favours  wherein  I  stand  bound  to  your  lord- 
ship, call  upon  me  at  this  time  to  send  your 
lordship  some  small  fruits  of  my  foreign  travel. 
Marquis  Spinola  is  returned  from  the  Palatinate, 
where  he  was  so  fortunate,  that  (like  Caesar)  he  came, 
saw,  and  overcame,  notwithstanding  that  huge  army 
of  the  Princes  of  the  Union,  consisting  of  40,000 
men,  whereas  his  was  under  twenty,  but  made  up 
of  old  tough  blades  and  veteran  commanders. 
He  hath  now  changed  his  coat,  and  taken  up  his 
old  commission  again  from  Don  Philippo,  where- 
as during  that  expedition,  he  called  himself  Caesar's 
servant.  I  hear  the  Emperor  hath  transmitted  the 
upper  Palatinate  to  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  as  cau- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  145 

tion  for  those  moneys  he  hath  expended  in  those 
wars.  And  the  King  of  Spain  is  the  Emperor's  com- 
missary for  the  lower  Palatinate.  They  both  pre- 
tend that  they  were  bound  to  obey  the  imperial 
summons  to  assist  Cresar  in  these  wars  ;  the  one 
as  he  was  Duke  of  Burgundy,  the  other  of  Ba- 
varia, both  which  countries  are  feudatory  to  the 
empire,  else  they  had  incurred  the  imperial  ban. 
It  is  feared  this  German  war  will  be  as  the  French- 
man saith,  de  longue  haleine,  long  breathed,  for  there 
are  great  powers  on  both  sides,  and  they  say  the 
King  of  Denmark  is  arming. 

Having  made  a  leisurely  sojourn  in  this  town, 
I  had  spare  hours  to  couch  in  writing  a  survey  of 
these  countries  which  I  have  now  traversed  the 
second  time,  but  in  regard  it  would  be  a  great  bulk 
for  a  letter,  I  send  it  your  lordship  apart,  and  when 
I  return  to  England,  I  shall  be  bold  to  attend  your 
lordship  for  correction  of  my  faults.  In  the  in- 
terim I  rest,  my  lord,  your  thrice  humble  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Antwerp,  May  i,  1623. 

XV 

A  Survey  of  the  Seventeen  Provinces 

My  Lord, 

TO  attempt  a  precise  description  of  each  of 
the  seventeen  provinces,  and  of  its  progres- 
sion, privileges  and  primitive  government,  were 


146  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

a  task  of  no  less  confusion  than  labour.  Let  it 
suffice  to  know  that  since  Flanders  and  Holland 
were  erected  to  earldoms,  and  so  left  to  be  an 
appendix  of  the  Crown  of  France,  some  of  them 
have  had  absolute  and  supreme  governors,  some 
subaltern  and  subject  to  a  superior  power. 
Amongst  the  rest  the  Earls  of  Flanders  and  Hol- 
land were  most  considerable  ;  but  of  them  two  he 
of  Holland  being  homageable  to  none,  and  hav- 
ing Friesland  and  Zealand  added,  was  the  more 
potent.  In  process  of  time  all  the  seventeen  met 
in  one;  some  by  conquest,  others  by  donation  and 
legacy,  but  most  by  alliance.  In  the  House  of 
Burgundy  this  union  received  most  growth,  but 
in  the  House  of  Austria  it  came  to  its  full  per- 
fection ;  for  in  Charles  the  Fifth  they  all  met  as 
so  many  lines  drawn  from  the  circumference  to 
the  centre,  who  lording  as  supreme  head  not  only 
over  the  fifteen  temporal,  but  the  two  spiritual, 
Liege  and  Utrecht,  had  a  design  to  reduce  them 
to  a  kingdom,  which  his  son  Philip  the  Second 
attempted  after  him,  but  they  could  not  bring 
their  intents  home  to  their  aim;  the  cause  is  im- 
puted to  that  multiplicity  and  difference  of  privi- 
leges which  they  are  so  eager  to  maintain,  and 
whereof  some  cannot  stand  with  a  monarchy  with- 
out incongruity.  Philip  the  Second  at  his  inau- 
guration was  sworn  to  observe  them,  and  at  his 
departure  he  obliged  himself  by  an  oath,  to  send 
still  one  of  his  own  blood  to  govern  them. 
Moreover,  at  the  request  of  the  Knights  of  the 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  147 

Golden  .  Fleece,  he  promised  that  all  foreign 
soldiers  should  retire,  and  that  he  himself  would 
come  to  visit  them  once  every  seventh  year,  but 
being  once  gone,  and  leaving  in  lieu  of  a  sword 
a  distaff,  an  unwieldy  woman,  to  govern,  he  came 
not  only  short  of  his  promise,  but  procured  a  dis- 
pensation from  the  Pope  to  be  absolved  of  his 
oath,  and  all  this  by  the  counsel  of  the  Cardinal 
Granvill,  who,  as  the  States  Chronicler  writes,  was 
the  first  firebrand  that  kindled  that  lamentable 
and  longsome  war  wherein  the  Netherlands  have 
traded  above  fifty  years  in  blood.  For  intending 
to  increase  the  number  of  bishops,  to  establish  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  to  clip  the 
power  of  the  Council  of  State  composed  of  the 
natives  of  the  land,  by  making  it  appealable  to 
the  Council  of  Spain,  and  by  adding  to  the  former 
oath  of  allegiance  (all  which  conduced  to  settle 
the  Inquisition,  and  to  curb  the  conscience),  the 
broils  began  ;  to  appease  which  ambassadors  were 
dispatched  to  Spain,  whereof  the  two  first  came  to 
violent  deaths,  the  one  being  beheaded,  the  other 
poisoned.  But  the  two  last,  Egmont  and  Horn, 
were  nourished  still  with  hopes,  until  Philip  the 
Second  had  prepared  an  army  under  the  conduct 
of  the  Duke  of  Alva  to  compose  the  difference 
by  arms.  For  as  soon  as  he  came  to  the  govern- 
ment he  established  the  Bloet-rad^  as  the  com- 
plainants termed  it,  a  council  of  blood,  made 
up  most  of  Spaniards.  Egmont  and  Horn  were 
apprehended   and   afterwards  beheaded.    Citadels 


148  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

were  erected,  and  the  oath  of  allegiance  with  the 
political  government  of  the  country  in  divers 
things  altered.  This  poured  oil  on  the  fire 
formerly  kindled,  and  put  all  in  combustion. 
The  Prince  of  Orange  retires,  thereupon  his  eld- 
est son  was  surprised  and  sent  as  hostage  to 
Spain,  and  above  5000  families  quit  the  country, 
many  towns  revolted  but  were  afterwards  reduced 
to  obedience;  which  made  the  Duke  of  Alva  say, 
that  the  Netherlands  appertained  to  the  King  of 
Spain  not  only  by  descent  but  conquest,  and  for 
cumble  of  his  victories  when  he  attempted  to 
impose  the  tenth  penny  for  maintenance  of  the 
garrisons  in  the  citadels  he  had  erected  at  Grave, 
Utrecht,  and  Antwerp  (where  he  caused  his 
statue,  made  of  cannon  brass,  to  be  erected, 
trampling  the  Belgians  under  his  feet),  all  the 
towns  withstood  this  imposition,  so  that  at  last, 
matters  succeeding  ill  with  him,  and  having  had 
his  cousin,  Pacecio,  hanged  at  Flushing  Gates, 
after  he  had  traced  out  the  platform  of  a  citadel 
in  that  town  also,  he  received  letters  of  revocation 
from  Spain.  Him  succeeded  Don  Luys  de  Re- 
quiluis,  who  came  short  of  his  predecessor  in  ex- 
ploits, and  dying  suddenly  in  the  field,  the 
government  was  invested  for  the  time  in  the 
Council  of  State.  The  Spanish  soldiers,  being 
without  a  head,  gathered  together  to  the  number 
of  1600,  and  committed  such  outrages  up  and 
down,  that  they  were  proclaimed  enemies  to  the 
state.    Hereupon,  the  pacification  of  Ghent  was 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  149 

transacted,  whereof,  amongst  other  articles  one 
was,  that  all  foreign  soldiers  should  quit  the 
country  ;  this  was  ratified  by  the  King,  and  ob- 
served by  Don  John  of  Austria,  who  succeeded 
in  the  government ;  yet  Don  John  retained  the 
landskneghts  at  his  devotion  still  for  some  secret 
design,  and,  as  some  conjectured,  for  the  invasion 
of  England,  he  kept  the  Spaniards  also  still 
hovering  about  the  frontiers  ready  upon  all  occa- 
sion. Certain  letters  were  intercepted  that  made 
a  discovery  of  some  projects  which  made  the  war 
to  bleed  afresh.  Don  John  was  proclaimed  en- 
emy to  the  state  ;  so  the  Archduke  Matthias  was 
sent  for,  who,  being  a  man  of  small  importance 
and  improper  for  the  times,  was  dismissed,  but 
upon  honourable  terms.  Don  John,  a  little  after, 
dies,  and,  as  some  gave  out,  of  the  pox ;  then 
comes  in  the  Duke  of  Parma,  a  man  as  of  a 
different  nation,  being  an  Italian,  so  of  a  different 
temper  and  more  moderate  spirit  and  of  greater 
performance  than  all  the  rest,  for,  whereas  all  the 
provinces  except  Luxemburg  and  Hainault  had 
revolted,  he  reduced  Ghent,  Tourney,  Bruges, 
Malines,  Brussels,  Antwerp  (which  three  last  he 
beleaguered  at  one  time),  and  divers  other  great 
towns  to  the  Spanish  obedience  again  ;  he  had 
60,000  men  in  pay,  and  the  choicest  which  Spain 
and  Italy  could  afford.  The  French  and  English 
ambassadors,  interceding  for  a  peace,  had  a  short 
answer  of  Philip  the  Second,  who  said  that  he 
needed  not  the  help  of  any  to  reconcile  himself 


150  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

to  his  own  subjects  and  reduce  them  to  conform- 
ity, but  the  difference  that  was  he  would  refer  to 
his  cousin  the  Emperor.  Hereupon,  the  business 
was  agitated  at  Cologne,  where  the  Spaniard  stood 
as  high  a-tiptoe  as  ever,  and  notwithstanding  the 
vast  expense  of  treasure  and  blood  he  had  been 
at  for  so  many  years,  and  that  matters  began  to 
exasperate  more  and  more  which  were  like  to 
prolong  the  wars  in  infinitum^  he  would  abate  no- 
thing in  point  of  ecclesiastical  government.  Here- 
upon, the  States  perceived  that  King  Philip  could 
not  be  wrought  either  by  the  solicitations  of  other 
princes  or  their  own  supplications  so  often  reit- 
erated, that  they  might  enjoy  the  freedom  of 
religion  with  other  enfranchisements,  and  finding 
him  inexorable,  being  incited  also  by  that  ban 
which  was  published  against  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  that  whosoever  killed  him  should  have 
5000  crowns,  they  at  last  absolutely  renounced 
and  abjured  the  King  of  Spain  for  their  sov- 
ereign ;  they  broke  his  seals,  changed  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  and  fled  to  France  for  shelter.  They 
inaugurated  the  Duke  of  Anjou  (recommended 
unto  them  by  the  Queen  of  England,  to  whom  he 
was  a  suitor)  for  their  prince,  who  attempted  to 
render  himself  absolute  and  so  thought  to  sur- 
prise Antwerp,  where  he  received  an  ill-favoured 
repulse ;  yet  nevertheless  the  United  Provinces, 
for  so  they  termed  themselves  ever  after,  fearing 
to  distaste  their  next  great  neighbour  France, 
made   a   second   proffer   of  their   protection  and 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  151 

sovereignty  to  that  king,  who  having  too  many- 
irons  in  the  fire  at  his  own  home,  the  League 
growing  stronger,  and  stronger,  he  answered  them 
that  his  shirt  was  nearer  to  him  than  his  doublet. 
Then  had  they  recourse  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  who, 
partly  for  her  own  security,  partly  for  interest  in 
religion,  reached  them  a  supporting  hand  and  so 
sent  them  men,  money,  and  a  governor,  the  Earl 
of  Leicester,  who  not  symbolising  with  their 
humour  was  quickly  revoked,  yet  without  any 
outward  dislike  on  the  Queen's  side,  for  she  left 
her  forces  still  with  them,  but  upon  their  expense. 
She  lent  them  afterwards  some  considerable  sums 
of  money  and  she  received  Flushing  and  the  Brill 
for  caution.  Ever  since  the  English  have  been  the 
best  sinews  of  their  war  and  achievers  of  the  great- 
est exploits  amongst  them.  Having  thus  made  sure 
work  with  the  English,  they  made  young  Count 
Maurice  their  governor,  who  for  twenty-five  years 
together  held  task  with  the  Spaniard,  and  during 
those  traverses  of  war  was  very  fortunate;  an  over- 
ture of  peace  was  then  propounded,  which  the  States 
would  not  hearken  unto  singly,  with  the  King  of 
Spain,  unless  the  Provinces  that  yet  remained  under 
him  would  engage  themselves  for  performance  of 
what  was  articled  ;  besides  they  would  not  treat 
either  of  peace  or  truce,  unless  they  were  declared 
Free  States,  all  which  was  granted.  So  by  the  in- 
tervention of  the  English  and  French  ambassadors, 
a  truce  was  concluded  for  twelve  years. 

These  wars  did  so  drain  and  discommodate  the 


152  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

King  of  Spain  by  reason  of  his  distance  (every 
soldier  that  he  sent  either  from  Spain  or  Italy 
costing  him  near  upon  a  hundred  crowns  before 
he  could  be  rendered  in  Flanders),  that  notwith- 
standing his  mines  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  it 
plunged  him  so  deeply  in  debt,  that  having  taken 
up  moneys  in  all  the  chief  banks  of  Christendom, 
he  was  forced  to  publish  a  diploma  wherein  he 
dispensed  with  himself  (as  the  Holland  story  hath 
it)  from  payment  alleging  that  he  had  employed 
those  moneys  for  the  public  peace  of  Christen- 
dom. This  broke  many  great  bankers,  and  they 
say  his  credit  was  not  current  in  Seville  or  Lisbon, 
his  own  towns  ;  and  which  was  worse,  while  he 
stood  wrestling  thus  with  his  own  subjects,  the 
Turk  took  his  opportunity  to  get  from  him 
Tunis  and  the  Goletta,  the  trophies  of  Charles 
the  Fifth,  his  father.  So  eager  he  was  in  this 
quarrel,  that  he  employed  the  utmost  of  his 
strength  and  industry  to  reduce  this  people  to  his 
will,  in  regard  he  had  an  intent  to  make  these 
provinces  his  main  rendezvous  and  magazine  of 
men-of-war,  which  his  neighbours  perceiving,  and 
that  he  had  a  kind  of  aim  to  be  Western  mon- 
arch, being  led  not  so  much  for  love  as  reasons 
of  state,  they  stuck  close  to  the  revolted  pro- 
vinces, and  this  was  the  bone  that  Secretary 
Walsingham  told  Queen  Elizabeth  he  would  cast 
the  King  of  Spain  that  should  last  him  twenty 
years,  and  perhaps  make  his  teeth  shake  in  his  head. 
But  to  return  to  my  first  discourse  whence  this 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  153 

digression  has  snatched  me.  The  Netherlands,  who 
had  been  formerly  knit  and  concentred  under  one 
sovereign  prince,  were  thus  dismembered  ;  and  as 
they  subsist  now,  they  are  a  state  and  a  province. 
The  province  having  ten  of  the  seventeen,  at  least, 
is  far  greater,  more  populous,  better  soiled,  and 
more  stored  with  gentry.  The  state  is  richer  and 
stronger,  the  one  proceeding  from  their  vast  navi- 
gation and  commerce,  the  other  from  the  quality 
of  their  country,  being  defensible  by  rivers  and 
sluices,  by  means  whereof  they  can  suddenly  over- 
whelm all  the  whole  country,  witness  that  stupen- 
dous siege  of  Leyden  and  Haarlem,  for  most  of 
their  towns,  the  marks  being  taken  away,  are  inac- 
cessible by  reason  of  shelves  of  sands.  Touching 
the  transaction  of  these  provinces  which  the  King  of 
Spain  made  as  a  dowry  to  the  Archduke  Albertus, 
upon  marriage  with  the  Infanta  (who  thereupon  left 
his  red  hat  and  Toledo  mitre,  the  chiefest  spiritual 
dignity  in  Christendom  for  revenue  after  the  Pap- 
acy), it  was  fringed  with  such  cautelous  restraints, 
that  he  was  sure  to  keep  the  better  end  of  the  staff 
still  to  himself,  for  he  was  to  have  the  tutelage  and 
ward  of  his  children  ;  that  they  were  to  marry  with 
one  of  the  Austrian  family  recommended  by  Spain, 
and  in  default  of  issue,  and  in  case  Albertus  should 
survive  the  Infanta,  he  should  be  but  governor 
only.  Add  hereunto  that  King  Philip  reserved  still 
to  himself  all  the  citadels  and  castles,  with  the  Order 
of  the  Golden  Fleece,  whereof  he  is  Master,  as  he 
is  Duke  of  Burgundy. 


154  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

The  Archduke  for  the  time  hath  a  very  princely 
command.  All  coins  bear  his  stamp,  all  placards  or 
edicts  are  published  in  his  name,  he  hath  the  elec- 
tion of  all  civil  officers  and  magistrates.  Renomi- 
nates also  bishops  and  abbots,  for  the  Pope  hath 
only  the  confirmation  of  them  here,  nor  can  he  ad- 
journ any  out  of  the  country  to  answer  anything, 
neither  are  his  Bulls  of  any  strength  without  the 
Prince's  placet,  which  makes  him  have  always  some 
commissioners  to  execute  his  authority.  The  people 
here  grow  hotter  and  hotter  in  the  Roman  cause 
by  reason  of  the  mixture  with  Spaniards  and  Ital- 
ians, as  also  by  the  example  of  the  Archduke  and 
the  Infanta,  who  are  devout  in  an  intense  degree. 
There  are  two  supreme  councils,  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil and  that  of  the  State  ;  this  treats  of  confederations 
and  intelligence  with  foreign  princes,  of  peace  and 
war,  of  entertaining  or  of  dismissing  colonels  and 
captains,  of  fortifications,  and  they  have  the  super- 
intendency  of  the  highest  affairs  that  concern  the 
Prince  and  the  policy  of  the  provinces.  The  pri- 
mate hath  the  granting  of  all  patents  and  bequests, 
the  publishing  of  all  edicts  and  proclamations,  the 
prizing  of  coin,  the  looking  to  the  confines  and  ex- 
tent of  the  provinces,  and  the  enacting  of  all  new 
ordinances.  Of  these  two  councils  there  is  never 
a  Spaniard,  but  in  the  actual  Council  of  War  their 
voices  are  predominant.  There  is  also  a  Court  of 
Finance  or  Exchequer,  whence  all  they  that  have 
the  fingering  of  the  King's  money  must  draw  a 
discharge.   Touching  matters  of  justice,  their  law  is 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  155 

mixed  between  civil  and  common, with  some  clauses 
of  canonical.  The  High  Court  of  Parliament  is 
at  Malines,  whither  all  civil  causes  may  be  brought 
by  appeal  from  other  towns,  except  some  that  have 
municipal  privileges,  and  are  sovereign  in  their  own 
jurisdictions,  as  Mons  in  Hainault, and  a  few  more. 
The  prime  province  for  dignity  is  Brabant, 
which,  amongst  many  other  privileges  it  enjoyeth, 
hath  this  for  one,  not  to  appear  upon  any  summons 
out  of  its  own  precinct,  which  is  one  of  the  reasons 
whv  the  Prince  makes  his  residence  there  :  but 
the  prime  for  extent  and  fame  is  Flanders,  the 
chiefest  earldom  in  Christendom,  which  is  three 
days'  journey  in  length ;  Ghent,  its  metropolis,  is 
reputed  the  greatest  town  of  Europe,  whence  arose 
the  proverb,  "  Les  flamene  tient  un  Gan,  qui 
tiendra  Paris  dedans."  But  the  beautifulest,  rich- 
est, strongest,  and  most  privileged  city  is  Antwerp 
in  Brabant,  being  the  marquisate  of  the  Holy 
Empire,  and  drawing  near  to  the  nature  of  a  Hans- 
Town,  for  she  pays  the  Prince  no  other  tax  but 
the  impost.  Before  the  dissociation  of  the  seven- 
teen provinces,  this  town  was  one  of  the  greatest 
marts  of  Europe,  and  greatest  bank  this  side  the 
Alps,  most  princes  having  their  factors  here  to 
take  up  or  let  out  moneys,  and  here  our  Gresham 
got  all  his  wealth,  and  built  our  Royal  Exchange 
by  model  of  that  here.  The  merchandise  brought 
hither  from  Germany,  France,  and  Italy  by  land, 
and  from  England,  Spain,  and  the  Hans-Towns 
by  sea,  was  estimated  at  above  twenty  millions  of 


156  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

crowns  every  year ;  but  as  no  violent  thing  is 
long  lasting,  and  as  it  is  fatal  to  all  kingdoms,  states, 
towns,  and  languages  to  have  their  period,  so  this 
renowned  mart  hath  suffered  a  shrewd  eclipse,  yet 
no  utter  downfall,  the  exchange  of  the  King  of 
Spain's  money  and  some  small  land  traffic  keeping 
still  life  in  her,  though  nothing  so  full  of  vigour 
as  it  was.  Therefore,  there  is  no  town  under  the 
Archduke  where  the  States  have  more  concealed 
friends  than  in  Antwerp,  who  would  willingly 
make  them  her  masters  in  hope  to  recover  her 
former  commerce,  which,  after  the  last  twelve 
years'  truce,  began  to  revive  a  little,  the  States 
permitting  to  pass  by  Lillo's  sconce,  which  com- 
mands the  river  of  Scheld,  and  lyeth  in  the  teeth 
of  the  town,  some  small  cross-sailed  ships  to  pass 
hither.  There  is  no  place  hath  been  more  passive 
than  this,  and  more  often  pillaged  ;  amongst  other 
times  she  was  once  plundered  most  miserably  by 
the  Spaniards  under  the  conduct  of  a  priest,  im- 
mediately upon  Don  John  of  Austria's  death  ;  she 
had  then  her  Stadt-House  burned,  which  had  cost 
a  few  years  before  above  twenty  thousand  crowns 
the  building,  and  the  spoils  that  were  carried  away 
thence  amounted  to  forty  tuns  of  gold.  Thus  she 
was  reduced  not  only  to  poverty  but  a  kind  of  cap- 
tivity, being  commanded  by  a  citadel,  which  she 
preferred  before  a  garrison  ;  this  made  the  mer- 
chants retire  and  seek  a  more  free  rendezvous,  some 
in  Zealand,  some  in  Holland,  specially  in  Amster- 
dam, which  rose  upon  the  fall  of  this  town,  as  Lis- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  157 

bon  did  from  Venice  upon  the  discovery  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  though  Venice  be  not  near 
so  much  crestfallen. 

I  will  now  steer  my  discourse  to  the  United 
Provinces,  as  they  term  themselves,  which  are  six 
in  number,  viz.,  Holland,  Zealand,  Friesland, 
Overyssel,  Groningen,  and  Utrecht,  three  parts 
of  Gelderland,  and  some  frontier  towns  and  places 
of  contribution  in  Brabant  and  Flanders.  In  all 
these  there  is  no  innovation  at  all  introduced, 
notwithstanding  this  great  change  in  point  of 
government,  except  that  the  College  of  States 
represents  the  duke  or  earl  in  times  passed ; 
which  college  consists  of  the  chiefest  gentry  of 
the  country,  superintendents  of  towns,  and  the 
principal  magistrates.  Every  province  and  great 
town  chooses  yearly  certain  deputies,  to  whom 
they  give  plenary  power  to  deliberate  with  the 
other  states  of  all  affairs  touching  the  public 
welfare  of  the  whole  province,  and  what  they  vote 
stands  for  law.  These  being  assembled,  consult  of 
all  matters  of  state,  justice  and  war  ;  the  advocate 
who  is  prime  in  the  assembly  propounds  the 
business,  and  after  collects  the  suffrages,  first  of 
the  provinces,  then  of  the  towns,  which  being  put 
in  form,  he  delivers  in  pregnant  and  moving 
speeches  ;  and  in  case  there  be  a  dissonance  and 
reluctancy  of  opinions,  he  labours  to  accord  and 
reconcile  them;  concluding  always  with  the  major 
voices. 

Touching    the    administration    of  justice,    the 


158  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

President,  who  is  monthly  changed,  with  the  great 
council,  have  the  supreme  judicature,  from  whose 
decrees  there  's  no  appeal,  but  a  revision  ;  and 
then  some  of  the  choicest  lawyers  amongst  them 
are  appointed. 

For  their  Oppidan  government  they  have  vari- 
ety of  offices,  a  Scout,  Burgomasters,  a  Bailie,  and 
Vroetschoppens.  The  Scout  is  chosen  by  the 
States,  who  with  the  bailies  have  the  judging  of  all 
criminal  matters  in  last  resort  without  appeal, 
they  have  also  the  determining  of  civil  causes,  but 
those  are  appealable  to  the  Hague.  Touching 
their  chiefest  governor  (or  general  rather  now), 
having  made  proof  of  the  Spaniard,  German, 
French,  and  English,  and  agreeing  with  none  of 
them,  they  lighted  at  last  upon  a  man  of  their 
own  mould,  Prince  Maurice,  now  their  general, 
in  whom  concurred  divers  parts  suitable  to  such 
a  charge,  having  been  trained  up  in  the  wars  by  his 
father,  who,  with  three  of  his  uncles  and  divers 
of  his  kindred,  sacrificed  their  lives  in  the  States' 
quarrel ;  he  hath  thriven  well  since  he  came  to 
the  government ;  he  cleared  Friesland,  Overyssel, 
and  Groningen  in  less  than  eighteen  months.  He 
hath  nov/  continued  their  governor  and  general 
by  sea  and  land  above  thirty-three  years  ;  he  hath 
the  election  of  magistrates,  the  pardoning  of 
malefactors,  and  divers  other  prerogatives,  yet 
they  are  short  of  the  reach  of  sovereignty,  and  of 
the  authority  of  the  ancient  Counts  of  Holland, 
though    I   cannot  say  it   is   a   mercenary  employ- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  159 

ment,  yet  he  hath  a  Hmited  allowance,  nor  hath 
he  any  implicit  command  when  he  goes  to  the 
field,  for  either  the  council  of  war  marcheth  with 
him,  or  else  he  receives  daily  directions  from 
them.  Moreover,  the  States  themselves  reserve 
the  power  of  nominating  all  commanders  in  the 
army,  which,  being  of  sundry  nations,  deprive  him 
of  those  advantages  he  might  have  to  make  him- 
self absolute.  Martial  discipline  is  nowhere  so 
regular  as  amongst  the  States  ;  nowhere  are  there 
lesser  insolences  committed  upon  the  burgher, 
nor  robberies  upon  the  country  boors,  nor  are  the 
officers  permitted  to  insult  over  the  common  sol- 
dier. When  the  army  marcheth,  not  one  dares 
take  so  much  as  an  apple  off  a  tree,  or  a  root  out 
of  the  earth,  in  their  passage ;  and  the  reason  is, 
that  they  are  punctually  paid  their  pay,  else  I  be- 
lieve they  would  be  insolent  enough,  and  were  not 
the  pay  so  certain,  I  think  few  or  none  would 
serve  them.  They  speak  of  sixty  thousand  they 
have  in  perpetual  pay  by  land  and  sea,  at  home 
and  in  the  Indies.  The  King  of  France  was  used 
to  maintain  a  regiment,  but  since  Henry  the 
Great's  death  the  payment  hath  been  neglected. 
The  means  they  have  to  maintain  these  forces,  to 
pay  their  governor,  to  discharge  all  other  expense, 
as  the  preservation  of  their  dikes  which  comes  to 
.  a  vast  expense  yearly,  is  the  ancient  revenue  of 
the  Counts  of  Holland,  the  impropriate  church- 
livings,  imposts  upon  all  merchandise,  which  is 
greater    upon    exported    than    imported    goods. 


i6o  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

excise  upon  all  commodities,  as  well  for  necessity 
as  pleasure,  taxes  upon  every  acre  of  ground, 
which  is  such  that  the  whole  country  returns  into 
their  hands  every  three  years.  Add  hereunto  the 
art  they  use  in  their  bank  by  the  rise  and  fall  of 
money,  the  fishing  upon  our  coasts  ;  whither  they 
send  every  autumn  above  700  hulks  or  busses, 
which,  in  the  voyages  they  make,  return  above 
a  million  in  herrings;  moreover  their  fishing  for 
green  fish  and  salmon  amounts  to  so  much  more ; 
and  for  their  cheese  and  butter  it  is  thought  they 
vend  as  much  every  year  as  Lisbon  doth  spices. 
This  keeps  the  common  treasury  always  full,  that 
upon  any  extraordinary  service  or  design  there 
is  seldom  any  new  tax  upon  the  people.  Traffic  is 
their  general  profession,  being  all  either  mer- 
chants or  mariners,  and,  having  no  land  to 
manure,  they  furrow  the  sea  for  their  living ;  and 
this  universality  of  trade,  and  their  banks  of  ad- 
ventures, distributes  the  wealth  so  equally,  that 
few  amongst  them  are  exceeding  rich  or  exceed- 
ing poor.  Gentry  amongst  them  are  very  thin, 
and,  as  in  all  democracies,  little  respected,  and, 
coming  to  dwell  in  towns,  they  soon  mingle  with 
the  merchant,  and  so  degenerate.  Their  soil, 
being  all  betwixt  marsh  and  meadow,  is  so  fat  in 
pasturage  that  one  cow  will  give  eight  quarts  of 
milk  a  day,  so  that,  as  a  boor  told  me,  in  four 
little  dorps  near  Harlem  it  is  thought  there  is  as 
much  milk  milked  in  the  year  as  there  is  Rhenish 
wine  brought  to  Dort,  which  is  the  sole  staple  of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  i6i 

it.  Their  towns  are  beautiful  and  neatly  built,  and 
with  uniformity,  that  who  sees  one  sees  all.  In 
some  places,  as  in  Amsterdam,  the  foundation 
costs  more  than  the  superstructure,  for,  the 
ground  being  soft,  they  are  constrained  to  ram  in 
huge  stakes  of  timber  (with  wool  about  it  to  pre- 
serve it  from  putrefaction)  till  they  come  to  a  firm 
basis  ;  so  that,  as  one  said,  whosoever  could  see 
Amsterdam  under  ground  should  see  a  huge 
winter  forest. 

Amongst  all  the  confederate  provinces  Holland 
is  most  predominant,  which,  being  but  six  hours' 
journey  in  breadth,  contains  nine-and-forty  walled 
towns,  and  all  these  within  a  day's  journey  one  of 
another.  Amsterdam  for  the  present  is  one  of  the 
greatest  mercantile  towns  in  Europe.  To  her  is  ap- 
propriated the  East  and  West  Indies  trade,  whither 
she  sends  yearly  forty  great  ships,  with  another 
fleet  to  the  Baltic  Sea,  but  they  send  not  near  so 
many  to  the  Mediterranean  as  England.  Other 
towns  are  passably  rich  and  stored  with  shipping, 
but  not  one  very  poor,  which  proceeds  from  the 
wholesome  policy  they  use,  to  assign  every  town 
some  firm  staple  commodity,  as  to  (their  maiden 
town)  Dort  the  German  wines  and  corn,  to  Mid- 
dleburg  the  French  and  Spanish  wines,  to  Trevere 
(the  Prince  of  Orange's  town)  the  Scots  trade. 
Leyden,  in  recompense  of  her  long  siege,  was 
erected  to  an  university,  which,  with  Franiker  in 
Friesland,  is  all  they  have ;  Harlem  for  knitting  and 
weaving  hath  some  privilege  ;  Rotterdam  hath  the 


i62  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

English  cloth,  and  this  renders  their  towns  so  equal- 
ly rich  and  populous.  They  allow  free  harbour  to 
all  nations  with  liberty  of  religion  (the  Roman  only 
excepted),  as  far  as  the  Jew  who  hath  two  syna- 
gogues allowed  him,  but  only  in  Amsterdam,  which 
piece  of  policy  they  borrow  of  the  Venetian,  with 
whom  they  have  very  intimate  intelligence  ;  only 
the  Jews  in  Venice,  in  Rome  and  other  places  go 
with  some  outward  mark  of  distinction,  but  here 
they  wear  none;  and  these  two  republics,  that  in 
the  east  and  this  in  the  west,  are  the  two  remoras 
that  stick  to  the  great  vessel  of  Spain,  that  it  can- 
not sail  to  the  Western  monarchy. 

I  have  been  long  in  the  survey  of  these  pro- 
vinces, yet  not  long  enough,  for  much  more  might 
be  said  which  is  fitter  for  a  story  than  a  survey. 
I  will  conclude  with  a  mot  or  two  of  the  people, 
whereof  some  have  been  renowned  in  times  past 
for  feats  of  war.  Amongst  the  States,  the  Hol- 
lander or  Batavian  hath  been  most  known,  for  some 
of  the  Roman  emperors  have  had  a  selected  guard 
of  them  about  their  persons  for  their  fidelity  and 
valour,  as  now  the  King  of  France  hath  of  the 
Swiss.  The  Frisians  also  have  been  famous  for 
those  large  privileges  wherewith  Charlemagne  en- 
dowed them.  The  Flemings  also  have  been  illus- 
trious for  the  martial  exploits  they  achieved  in  the 
East,  where  two  of  the  Earls  of  Flanders  were 
crowned  emperors.  They  have  all  a  genius  inclined 
to  commerce,  very  inventive  and  witty  in  manu- 
factures, witness  the  art  of  printing,  painting,  and 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  163 

colouring  in  glass  ;  those  curious  quadrants,  chimes 
and  dials  ;  those  kind  of  waggons  which  are  used 
up  and  down  Christendom  were  first  used  by  them  ; 
and  for  the  mariner's  compass,  though  the  matter 
be  disputable  betwixt  the  Neapolitan,  the  Portugal, 
and  them,  yet  there  is  a  strong  argument  on  their 
side  in  regard  they  were  the  first  that  subdivided 
the  four  cardinal  winds  to  two  and  thirty,  others 
naming  them  in  their  language. 

There  is  no  part  of  Europe  so  haunted  with  all 
sorts  of  foreigners  as  the  Netherlands,  which  makes 
the  inhabitants,  as  well  women  as  men,  so  well 
versed  in  all  sorts  of  languages,  so  that  in  Exchange 
time  one  may  hear  seven  or  eight  sorts  of  tongues 
spoken  upon  their  bourses.  Nor  are  the  men  only 
expert  herein,  but  the  women  and  maids  also  in 
their  common  hostelries,  and  in  Holland  the  wives 
are  so  well  versed  in  bargaining,  ciphering  and 
writing,  that  in  the  absence  of.  their  husbands  in 
long  sea  voyages  they  beat  the  trade  at  home,  and 
their  words  will  pass  in  equal  credit.  These  women 
are  wonderfully  sober,  though  their  husbands  make 
commonly  their  bargains  in  drink,  and  then  are 
they  most  cautelous.  This  confluence  of  strangers 
makes  them  very  populous,  which  was  the  cause 
that  Charles  the  Emperor  said  that  all  the  Nether- 
lands seemed  to  him  but  as  one  continued  town. 
He  and  his  grandfather  Maximilian,  notwithstand- 
ing the  choice  of  kingdoms  they  had,  kept  their 
courts  most  frequently  in  them,  which  showed  how 
highly  they  esteemed  them,  and  I  believe  if  Philip 


i64  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

the  Second  had  visited  them  sometimes  matters 
had  not  gone  so  ill. 

There  is  no  part  of  the  earth,  considering  the 
small  circuit  of  country,  which  is  estimated  to  be 
but  as  big  as  the  fifth  part  of  Italy,  where  one 
may  find  more  differing  customs,  tempers,  and 
humours  of  people  than  in  the  Netherlands.  The 
Walloon  is  quick  and  sprightful,  accostable  and 
full  of  compliment,  and  gaudy  in  apparel,  like 
his  next  neighbour  the  French;  the  Fleming  and 
Brabanter  somewhat  more  slow  and  sparing  of 
speech;  the  Hollander  slower  than  he,  more  surly 
and  respectless  of  gentry  and  strangers,  homely 
in  his  clothing,  of  very  few  words,  and  heavy  in 
action,  which  may  be  well  imputed  to  the  quality 
of  the  soil,  which  works  so  strongly  upon  the 
humours  that  when  people  of  a  more  vivacious 
and  nimble  temper  come  to  mingle  with  them, 
their  children  are  observed  to  partake  rather  of 
the  soil  than  the  sire.  And  so  it  is  in  all  animals 
besides. 

Thus  I  have  huddled  up  some  observations  of 
the  Low  Countries,  beseeching  your  lordship 
would  be  pleased  to  pardon  the  imperfections  and 
correct  the  errors  of  them,  for  I  know  none  so 
capable  to  do  it  as  your  lordship,  to  whom  I  am 
a  most  humble  and  ready  servitor,  t    p^ 

Antwerp,  i  May  1622  [3]. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  165 


XVI 

To  my  Brother,  Mr   Hugh   Penry,  upon  his 
Marriage 

YOU  have  had  a  good  while  the  interest  of 
a  friend  in  me,  but  you  have  me  now  in 
a  straighter  tie,  for  I  am  your  brother  by  your 
late  marriage,  which  hath  turned  friendship  into 
an  aUiance.  You  have  in  your  arms  one  of  my 
dearest  sisters,  who  I  hope,  nay  I  know,  will  make 
a  good  wife.  I  heartily  congratulate  this  marriage, 
and  pray  that  a  blessing  may  descend  upon  it  from 
that  place  where  all  marriages  are  made,  which  is 
from  heaven,  the  fountain  of  all  felicity.  To  this 
prayer  I  think  it  no  profaneness  to  add  the  saying 
of  the  lyric  poet  Horace,  in  whom  I  know  you  de- 
light much,  and  I  send  it  you  as  a  kind  of  epitha- 
lamium,  and  wish  it  may  be  verified  in  you  both: 

Faelices  ter  et  amplius 

Quos  irrupta  tenet  copula,  nee  mails 
Divulsus  querimoniis 

Suprema  citius  solvet  amor  die. 

Thus  Englished : 

That  couple  's  more  than  trebly  blest 
Which  nuptial  bonds  do  so  combine, 

That  no  distaste  can  them  untwine 
Till  the  last  day  send  both  to  rest. 

So,  dear  brother,  I  much  rejoice  for  this  alliance, 


i66  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

and  wish  you  may  increase  and  multiply  to  your 
heart's  content.  —  Your  affectionate  brother, 

J.  H. 
May  the  20,  1622. 


XVII 

To  my  Brother^  Dr  Howell ;  from  Brussels 

I  HAD  yours  in  Latin  at  Rotterdam,  whence 
I  corresponded  with  you  in  the  same  language. 
I  heard,  though  not  from  you,  since  I  came  to 
Brussels,  that  our  sister  Anne  is  lately  married  to 
Mr  Hugh  Penry.  I  am  heartily  glad  of  it,  and 
wish  the  rest  of  our  sisters  were  so  well  bestowed, 
for  I  know  Mr  Penry  to  be  a  gentleman  of  a  great 
deal  of  solid  worth  and  integrity,  and  one  that 
will  prove  a  great  husband  and  a  good  economist. 
Here  is  news  that  Mansfelt  hath  received  a 
foil  lately  in  Germany,  and  that  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  alias  Bishop  of  Halverstadt,  hath  lost 
one  of  his  arms.  This  makes  them  vapour  here 
extremely,  and  the  last  week  I  heard  of  a  play  the 
Jesuits  of  Antwerp  made,  in  derogation,  or  rather 
derision,  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Prince  Palsgrave, 
where,  amongst  divers  other  passages,  they  feigned 
a  post  to  come  puffing  upon  the  stage,  and  being 
asked  what  news,  he  answered  how  the  Palsgrave 
was  like  to  have  shortly  a  huge  formidable  army, 
for  the  King  of  Denmark  was  to  send  him  a  hun- 
dred thousand,  the  Hollanders  a  hundred  thou- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  167 

sand,  and  the  King  of  Great  Britain  a  hundred 
thousand;  but  being  asked  thousands  of  what ? 
he  replied  the  first  would  send  a  hundred  thousand 
red  herrings,  the  second  a  hundred  thousand 
cheeses,  and  the  last  a  hundred  thousand  ambas- 
sadors, alluding  to  Sir  Richard  Weston  and  Sir 
Edward  Conway,  my  Lord  Carlisle,  Sir  Arthur 
Chichester,  and  lastly,  the  Lord  Digby,  who  have 
been  all  employed  in  quality  of  ambassadors  in 
less  than  two  years — since  the  beginning  of  these 
German  broils.  Touching  the  last,  having  been 
with  the  Emperor  and  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and 
carried  himself  with  such  high  wisdom  in  his  nego- 
tiations with  the  one  and  stoutness  with  the  other, 
and  having  preserved  Count  Mansfelt's  troops 
from  disbanding,  by  pawning  his  own  argentry 
and  jewels,  he  passed  this  way,  where  they  say 
the  Archduke  did  esteem  him  more  than  any  am- 
bassador that  ever  was  in  this  court,  and  the  report 
is  yet  very  fresh  of  his  high  abilities. 

We  are  to  remove  hence  in  coach  towards  Paris 
the  next  week,  where  we  intend  to  winter,  or  hard 
by.  When  you  have  opportunity  to  write  to 
Wales,  I  pray  present  my  duty  to  my  father,  and 
my  love  to  the  rest.  I  pray  remember  me  also 
to  all  at  the  Hill  and  the  Dale,  especially  to  that 
most  virtuous  gentleman.  Sir  John  Franklin.  So, 
my  dear  brother,  I  pray  God  continue  and  im- 
prove His  blessings  to  us  both,  and  bring  us  again 
together  with  comfort.  —  Your  brother,    J.  H. 

June  10,  1622. 


i68  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XVIII 

To  Dr  Tho.  Frichard,  at  Worcester  House 

FRIENDSHIP  is  the  great  chain  of  human 
society,  and  intercourse  of  letters  is  one  of 
the  chiefest  links  of  that  chain.  You  know  this  as 
well  as  I,  therefore  I  pray  let  our  friendship,  let 
our  love,  that  nationality  of  British  love,  that  vir- 
tuous tie  of  academic  love,  be  still  strengthened  (as 
heretofore),  and  receive  daily  more  and  more 
vigour.  I  am  now  in  Paris,  and  there  is  weekly 
opportunity  to  receive  and  send;  and  if  you  please 
to  send,  you  shall  be  sure  to  receive,  for  I  make 
it  a  kind  of  religion  to  be  punctual  in  this  kind  of 
payment.  I  am  heartily  glad  to  hear  that  you  are 
become  a  domestic  member  to  that  most  noble 
family  of  the  Worcesters,  and  I  hold  it  to  be  a 
very  good  foundation  for  future  preferment ;  I 
wish  you  may  be  as  happy  in  them,  as  I  know 
they  will  be  happy  in  you.  France  is  now  barren 
of  news,  only  there  was  a  shrewd  brush  lately  be- 
twixt the  young  king  and  his  mother,  who,  having 
the  Duke  of  Epernon  and  others  for  her  com- 
panions, met  him  in  open  field  about  Pont  de  Ce, 
but  she  went  away  with  the  worst ;  such  was  the 
rare  dutifulness  of  the  king,  that  he  forgave  her 
upon  his  knees,  and  pardoned  all  her  complices. 
And  now  there  is  an  universal  peace  in  this  coun- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  169 

try,  which  it  is  thought  will  not  last  long,  for 
there  is  a  war  intended  against  them  of  the  re- 
formed religion;  for  this  king,  though  he  be  slow 
in  speech,  yet  is  he  active  in  spirit,  and  loves 
motion.  I  am  here  comrade  to  a  gallant  young 
gentleman,  my  old  acquaintance,  who  is  full  of 
excellent  parts,  which  he  hath  acquired  by  a  choice 
breeding,  the  baron  his  father  gave  him  both  in 
the  University  and  in  the  Inns  of  Court,  so  that 
for  the  time  I  envy  no  man's  happiness.  So,  with 
my  hearty  commends,  and  much  endeared  love 
unto  you,  1  rest  yours  whiles. 

Jam.    Howell. 

Paris,  3  August  1622. 


XIX 

To  the  Honourable  Sir  Tho.  Savage  [after  Lord 
Savage)  f  at  his  house  upon  Tower  Hill 

THOSE  many  undeserved  favours  for  which 
I  stand  obliged  to  yourself  and  my  noble  lady, 
since  the  time  I  had  the  happiness  to  come  first 
under  your  roof,  and  the  command  you  pleased  to 
lay  upon  me  at  my  departure  thence,  call  upon  me 
at  this  time  to  give  you  account  how  matters  pass 
in  France. 

That  which  for  the  present  affords  most  plenty 
of  news  is  Rochelle,  which  the  King  threateneth 
to    block    up    this  spring   with    an    army  by   sea. 


170  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  and 
by  a  land  army  under  his  own  conduct :  both  sides 
prepare,  he  to  assault,  the  Rochellers  to  defend. 
The  King  declares  that  he  proceeds  not  against 
them  for  their  religion,'which  he  is  still  contented 
to  tolerate,  but  for  holding  an  assembly  against  his 
declarations.  They  answer,  that  their  assembly  is 
grounded  upon  His  Majesty's  royal  warrant,  given 
at  the  dissolution  of  the  last  assembly  at  Lodun, 
where  he  solemnly  gave  his  word  to  permit  them 
to  reassemble  when  they  would  six  months  after, 
if  the  breaches  of  their  liberty  and  grievances  which 
they  then  propounded  were  not  redressed  ;  and 
they  say  this  being  unperformed,  it  stands  not  with 
the  sacred  person  of  a  king  to  violate  his  promise, 
being  the  first  that  ever  he  made  them.  The  King 
is  so  incensed  against  them  that  their  deputies  can 
have  neither  access  to  his  person  nor  audience  of 
his  council,  as  they  style  themselves  the  deputies 
of  the  assembly  at  Rochelle  ;  but  if  they  say  they 
come  from  the  whole  body  of  them  of  the  pretended 
reformed  religion  he  will  hear  them.  The  breach 
between  them  is  grown  so  wide  that  the  King  re- 
solves upon  a  siege.  This  resolution  of  the  King's 
is  much  fomented  by  the  Roman  clergy,  specially 
by  the  Celestines,  who  have  200,000  crowns  of 
gold  in  the  Arsenal  of  Paris  which  they  would 
sacrifice  all  to  this  service  ;  besides  the  Pope  sent 
him  a  bull  to  levy  what  sums  he  would  of  the  Gal- 
ilean Church  for  the  advancement  of  his  design. 
This  resolution  also  is  much  pushed  on  by  the  gen- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  171 

try,  who,  besides  the  particular  employments  and 
pay  they  shall  receive  hereby,  are  glad  to  have  their 
young  king  trained  up  in  arms  to  make  him  a  mar- 
tial man.  But  for  the  merchant  and  poor  peasant, 
they  tremble  at  the  name  of  this  war,  fearing  their 
teeth  should  be  set  on  edge  with  those  sour  grapes 
their  fathers  tasted  in  the  time  of  the  League,  for 
if  the  King  begin  with  Rocheile  it  is  feared  all 
the  four  corners  of  the  kingdom  will  be  set  on  fire. 
Of  all  the  towns  of  surety  which  they  of  the 
religion  hold,  Rocheile  is  the  chiefest ;  a  place 
strong  by  nature  but  stronger  by  art.  It  is  a  mar- 
itime town,  and  landward  they  can  by  sluices 
drown  a  league's  distance ;  it  is  fortified  with 
mighty  thick  walls,  bastions  and  counterscarps, 
and  those  according  to  the  modern  rules  of  en- 
ginry.  This  amongst  other  cautionary  towns 
was  granted  by  Henry  the  Fourth  to  them  of  the 
religion  for  a  certain  term  of  years,  which  being 
expired  the  King  saith  they  are  devolved  again  to 
the  Crown  and  so  demands  them.  They  of  the 
religion  pretend  to  have  divers  grievances  ;  first, 
they  have  not  been  paid  these  two  years  the 
160,000  crowns  which  the  last  king  gave  them 
annually  to  maintain  their  ministers  and  garri- 
sons; they  complain  of  the  King's  carriage  lately 
at  Beam  (Henry  the  Great's  country),  which  was 
merely  Protestant,  where  he  hath  introduced  two 
years  since  the  public  exercise  of  the  mass,  which 
had  not  been  sung  there  fifty  years  before.  He 
altered  also  there  the  government  of  the  country, 


172  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

and  in  lieu  of  a  viceroy  left  a  governor  only  ;  and 
whereas  Navarrin  was  formerly  a  Court  of  Parlia- 
ment for  the  whole  kingdom  of  Navaar  (that 's 
under  France),  he  hath  put  it  down  and  pub- 
lished an  edict  that  the  Navarrois  should  come 
to  Toulouse  the  chief  town  of  Languedoc ;  and 
lastly,  he  left  behind  him  a  garrison  in  the  said 
town  of  Navarrin.  These  and  other  grievances 
they  of  the  religion  proposed  to  the  King  lately, 
desiring  His  Majesty  would  let  them  enjoy  still 
those  privileges  his  predecessor,  Henry  the 
Third,  and  his  father,  Henry  the  Fourth,  afforded 
them  by  Act  of  Pacification.  But  he  made  them 
a  short  answer :  That  what  the  one  did  in  this 
point,  he  did  it  out  of  fear ;  what  the  other  did, 
he  did  it  out  of  love ;  but  he  would  have  them 
know  that  he  neither  loved  them  nor  feared 
them ;  so  the  business  is  like  to  bleed  sore  on 
both  sides ;  nor  is  there  yet  any  appearance  of 
prevention. 

There  was  a  scuffle  lately  here  betwixt  the 
Duke  of  Nevers  and  the  Cardinal  of  Guise,  who 
have  had  a  long  suit-in-law  about  an  abbey,  and, 
meeting  the  last  week  about  the  palace,  from 
words  they  fell  to  blows ;  the  Cardinal  struck  the 
Duke  first  and  so  were  parted ;  but  in  the  after- 
noon there  appeared  on  both  sides  no  less  than 
3000  horse  in  a  field  hard  by,  which  shows  the 
populousness  and  sudden  strength  of  this  huge 
city ;  but  the  matter  was  taken  up  by  the  King, 
himself,   and    the  Cardinal    clapped    up    in    the 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  173 

Bastile,  where  the  King  saith  he  shall  abide  to 
ripen  ;  for  he  is  but  young,  and  they  speak  of  a 
bull  that  is  to  come  from  Rome  to  decardinalize 
him.  I  fear  to  have  trespassed  too  much  upon 
your  patience,  therefore  I  will  conclude  for  the 
present,  but  will  never  cease  to  profess  myself 
your  thrice  humble  and  ready  servitor, 

J.  H. 
Paris,  August  18,  1622. 

XX 

To  D.  Caldwall^  Esq. ;  from  Poissy 

My  Dear  D., 

TO  be  free  from  English,  and  to  have  the 
more  conveniency  to  fall  close  to  our  busi- 
ness, Mr  Altham  and  I  are  lately  retired  from 
Paris  to  this  town  of  Poissy,  a  pretty  genteel 
place  at  the  foot  of  the  great  forest  of  Saint 
Germain  upon  the  river  Sequana,  and  within  a 
mile  of  one  of  the  King's  chiefest  standing 
houses,  and  about  fifteen  miles  from  Paris.  Here 
is  one  of  the  prime  nunneries  of  all  France. 
Lewis  the  Ninth,  who  in  the  catalogue  of  the 
French  kings  is  called  St  Lewis,  which  title  was 
confirmed  by  the  Pope,  was  baptised  in  this  little 
town,  and  after  his  return  from  Egypt  and  other 
places  against  the  Saracens,  being  asked  by  what 
title  he  would  be  distinguished  from  the  rest  of 
his  predecessors  after  his  death,  he  answered  that 


174  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

he  desired  to  be  called  Lewis  of  Poissy ;  reply 
being  made  that  there  were  divers  other  places 
and  cities  of  renown,  where  he  had  performed 
brave  exploits,  and  obtained  famous  victories, 
therefore  it  was  more  fitting  that  some  of  those 
places  should  denominate  him.  "  No,"  said  he, 
"  I  desire  to  be  called  Louis  of  Poissy,  because 
there  I  got  the  most  glorious  victory  that  ever  I 
had,  for  there  I  overcame  the  devil,"  meaning 
that  he  was  christened  there. 

I  sent  you  from  Antwerp  a  silver  Dutch  table- 
book.  I  desire  to  hear  of  the  receipt  of  it  in  your 
next.  I  must  desire  you  (as  I  did  once  at  Rouen) 
to  send  me  a  dozen  pair  of  the  whitest  kidskin 
gloves  for  women,  and  half  a  dozen  pair  of 
knives,  by  the  merchant's  post ;  and  if  you  want 
anything  that  France  can  afford,  I  hope  you 
know  what  power  you  have  to  dispose  of. 
Yours,  J.  H. 

Poissy,  September  7,  1622. 

XXI 

To  my  Father ;  from  Paris 

I  WAS  afraid  I  should  never  have  had  ability  to 
write  to  you  again,  I  had  lately  such  a  danger- 
ous fit  of  sickness ;  but  I  have  now  passed  the 
brunt  of  it.  God  hath  been  pleased  to  reprieve 
me  and  reserve  me  for  more  days,  which  I  hope 
to  have  grace  to  number  better.    Mr  Altham  and 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  175 

I  having  retired  to  a  small  town  from  Paris  for 
more  privacy  and  sole  conversation  with  the  na- 
tion, I  tied  myself  to  a  task  for  the  reading  of  so 
many  books  in  such  a  compass  of  time,  and  there- 
upon to  make  good  my  word  to  myself,  I  used 
to  watch  many  nights  together,  though  it  was  in 
the  depth  of  winter;  but  returning  to  this  town, 
I  took  cold  in  the  head,  and  so  that  mass  of 
rheum  which  had  gathered  by  my  former  watch- 
ing, turned  to  an  imposthume  in  my  head,  where- 
of I  was  sick  above  forty  days  ;  at  the  end  thev 
cauterised  and  made  an  issue  in  my  cheek  to 
make  vent  for  the  imposthume,  and  that  saved 
my  life.  At  first  they  let  me  blood,  and  I  parted 
with  above  fifty  ounces  in  less  than  a  fortnight, 
for  phlebotomy  is  so  much  practised  here,  that  if 
one's  little  finger  ache,  they  presently  open  a  vein, 
and  so  balance  the  blood  on  both  sides ;  they 
usually  let  the  blood  in  both  arms.  And  the 
commonness  of  the  thing  seems  to  take  away  all 
fear,  insomuch  that  the  very  women,  when  they 
find  themselves  indisposed,  will  open  a  vein  them- 
selves ;  for  they  hold  that  the  blood  which  hath  a 
circulation  and  fetcheth  a  round  every  twenty-four 
hours  about  the  body  is  quickly  repaired  again.  I 
was  eighteen  days  and  nights  that  I  had  no  sleep 
but  short  imperfect  slumbers,  and  those,  too,  pro- 
cured by  potions.  The  tumour  at  last  came  so 
about  my  throat,  that  I  had  scarce  vent  left  for 
respiration,  and  my  body  was  brought  so  low  with 
all  sorts  of  physic,  that  I   appeared  like  a  mere 


176  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

skeleton.  When  I  was  indifferently  well  recov- 
ered, some  of  the  doctors  and  chirurgeons  that 
tended  me  gave  me  a  visit,  and  amongst  other 
things  they  fell  in  discourse  of  wines  which  was 
the  best,  and  so  by  degrees  they  fell  upon  other 
beverages.  And  one  doctor  in  the  company  who 
had  been  in  England,  told  me  that  we  have  a 
drink  in  England  called  ale,  which  he  thought 
was  the  wholsomest  liquor  that  could  go  into 
one's  guts,  far  whereas  the  body  of  man  is 
supported  by  two  columns,  viz.  the  natural  heat 
and  radical  moisture,  he  said,  there  is  no  drink 
conduceth  more  to  the  preservation  of  the  one 
and  the  increase  of  the  other  than  ale,  for  while 
the  Englishmen  drank  only  ale,  they  were  strong 
brawny  able  men,  and  could  draw  an  arrow  an  ell 
long;  but  when  they  fell  to  wine  and  beer,  they 
are  found  to  be  much  impaired  in  their  strength 
and  age.  So  the  ale  bore  away  the  bell  among 
the  doctors. 

The  next  week  we  advance  our  course  farther 
into  France  towards  the  river  of  Loire  to  Orleans, 
whence  I  shall  continue  to  convey  my  duty  to  you. 
In  the  meantime  I  humbly  crave  your  blessing  and 
your  acknowledgment  to  God  Almighty  for  my 
recovery.  Be  pleased  further  to  impart  my  love 
amongst  my  brothers  and  sisters  with  all  my  kins- 
men and  friends  in  the  country, —  So  I  rest  your 
dutiful  son,  J.  H. 

Paris,  December  10,  1622. 


OF   JAMES   HOWELL  177 

XXII 

To  Sir  Tho??ias  Savage^  Kyiight  and  Baronet 

THAT  of  the  fifth  of  this  present  which  you 
pleased  to  send  me  was  received,  and  I  begin 
to  think  myself  something  more  than  I  was,  that 
you  value  so  much  the  slender  endeavours  of  my 
pen  to  do  you  service.  I  shall  continue  to  improve 
vour  good  opinion  of  me  as  opportunity  shall 
serve. 

Touching  the  great  threats  against  Rochelle, 
whereof  I  gave  you  an  ample  relation  in  my  last, 
matters  are  become  now  more  calm  and  rather 
inclining  to  an  accommodation,  for  it  is  thought 
a  sum  of  money  will  make  up  the  breach  ;  and  to 
this  end  some  think  all  these  bravadoes  were  made. 
The  Duke  of  Luynes  is  at  last  made  Lord  High 
Constable  of  France,  the  prime  officer  of  the  crown. 
He  hath  a  peculiar  court  to  himself,  a  guard  of  a 
hundred  men  in  rich  liveries,  and  a  hundred  thou- 
sand livres  every  year  pension.  The  old  Duke 
of  Lesdiguieres,  one  of  the  ancientest  soldiers  of 
France,  and  a  Protestant,  is  made  his  lieutenant. 
But  in  regard  all  Christendom  rings  of  this  fa- 
vourite, being  the  greatest  that  ever  was  in  France 
since  the  Maires  of  the  palace,  who  came  to  be 
kings  afterwards,  I  will  send  you  herein  his  legend. 
He  was  born  in  Province,  and  is  a  gentleman  by 
descent,  though  of  a  petty  extraction;  in  the  last 


1 78  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

king's  time  he  was  preferred  to  be  one  of  his  pages, 
who,  finding  him  industrious  and  a  good  waiter, 
allowed  him  300  crowns  pension  per  annum,  which 
he  husbanded  so  well  that  he  maintained  himself 
and  his  two  brothers  in  passable  good  fashion  there- 
with. The  King  observing  that,  doubled  his  pen- 
sion, and  taking  notice  that  he  was  a  serviceable 
instrument  and  apt  to  please,  he  thought  him  fit 
to  be  about  his  son,  in  whose  service  he  hath  con- 
tinued above  fifteen  years,  and  he  has  flown  so  high 
into  his  favour  by  a  singular  dexterity  and  art  he 
hath  in  falconry,  and  by  shooting  at  birds  flying 
wherein  the  King  took  great  pleasure,  that  he  hath 
soared  to  this  pitch  of  honour.  He  is  a  man  of  a 
passable  good  understanding  and  forecast,  of  a  mild 
comportment,  humble  and  debonair  to  all,  and  of 
a  winning  conversation.  He  hath  about  him  choice 
and  solid  heads,  who  prescribe  unto  him  rules 
of  policy,  by  whose  compass  he  steers  his  course, 
which  is  likely  will  make  him  subsist  long.  He  is 
now  come  to  that  transcendant  altitude,  that  he 
seems  to  have  mounted  above  the  reach  of  envy, 
and  made  all  hopes  of  supplanting  him  frustrate, 
both  by  the  politic  guidance  of  his  own  actions  and 
the  powerful  alliances  he  hath  got  for  himself  and  his 
two  brothers.  He  is  married  to  the  Duke  of  Mont- 
bazon's  daughter,  one  of  the  prime  peers  of  France. 
His  second  brother,  Cadenet  (who  is  reputed  the 
wisest  of  the  three),  married  the  heiress  of  Picardy, 
with  whom  he  had  ^9000  lands  a  year ;  his  third 
brother,  Brand,  to  the  great  heiress  of  Luxemburg, 


OF   JAMES   HOWELL  179 

of  which  house  there  have  been  five  emperors,  so 
that  these  three  brothers  and  their  allies  would  be 
able  to  counterbalance  any  one  faction  in  France, 
the  eldest  and  youngest  being  made  dukes  and 
peers  of  France,  the  other  marshal.  There  are  lately 
two  Ambassadors  Extraordinary  come  hither  from 
Venice  about  the  Valtolin,  but  their  negotiation  is 
at  a  stand  until  the  return  of  an  Ambassador  Ex- 
traordinary which  is  gone  to  Spain.  Ambassadors 
also  are  come  from  the  Hague  for  payment  of  the 
French  regiment  there,  which  hath  been  neglected 
these  ten  years,  and  to  know  whether  His  Majesty 
will  be  pleased  to  continue  their  pay  any  longer; 
but  their  answer  is  yet  suspended.  They  have 
brought  news  that  the  seven  ships  which  were  built 
for  His  Majesty  in  the  Tessel  are  ready.  To  this 
he  answered  that  he  desires  to  have  ten  more  built, 
for  he  intends  to  finish  that  design  which  his  father 
hadafoot  a  little  before  his  death  to  establish  a 
royal  company  of  merchants. 

This  is  all  the  news  that  France  affords  for  the 
present,  the  relation  whereof,  if  it  prove  as  accept- 
able as  my  endeavours  to  serve  you  herein  are 
pleasing  unto  me,  I  shall  esteem  myself  happy. 
So  wishing  you  and  my  noble  lady  continuance  of 
health  and  increase  of  honour,  I  rest  your  most 
humble  servitor,  J.  H. 

Paris,  15  December  1611. 


i8o  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

XXIII 

To  Sir  'John  North,  Knight 

I  CONFESS  you  have  made  a  perfect  conquest 
of  me  by  your  late  favours,  and  I  yield  myself 
your  captive.  A  day  may  come  that  will  enable 
me  to  pay  my  ransom  ;  in  the  interim  let  a  most 
thankful  acknowledgment  be  my  bail  and  main- 
prize. 

I  am  now  removed  from  off  the  Seine  to  the 
Loire  to  the  fair  town  of  Orleans.  There  was  here 
lately  a  mixed  procession  betwixt  military  and 
ecclesiastic  for  the  Maid  of  Orleans,  which  is  per- 
formed every  year  very  solemnly.  Her  statue 
stands  upon  the  bridge,  and  her  clothes  are  pre- 
served to  this  day,  which  a  young  man  wore  in 
the  procession,  which  makes  me  think  that  her 
story  though  it  sound  like  a  romance  is  very  true, 
and  I  read  it  thus  in  two  or  three  chronicles. 
When  the  English  had  made  such  firm  invasions 
in  France,  that  their  armies  had  marched  into  the 
heart  of  the  country,  besieged  Orleans  and  driven 
Charles  the  Seventh  to  Bourges  in  Berry,  which 
made  him  to  be  called,  for  the  time.  King  of 
Berry,  there  came  to  his  army  a  shepherdess, 
one  Anne  de  Arque,  who  with  a  confident  look 
and  language  told  the  King  that  she  was  designed 
by  heaven  to  beat  the  English  and  drive  them 
out  of  France.   Therefore  she  desired  a  command 


OF   JAMES    HOWELL  i8i 

in  the  army,  which  by  her  extraordinary  confi- 
dence and  importunity  she  obtained,  and  putting 
on  man's  apparel  she  proved  so  prosperous  that 
the  siege  was  raised  from  before  Orleans,  and  the 
English  w^ere  pursued  to  Paris  and  forced  to  quit 
that,  and  driven  to  Normandy.  She  used  to  go 
on  with  marvellous  courage  and  resolution,  and 
her  word  was  hara  ha.  But  in  Normandy  she  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  the  English  had  a  fair  revenge 
upon  her,  for  by  an  arrest  of  the  Parliament  of 
Rouen  she  was  burnt  for  a  witch.  There  is  a  great 
business  now  afoot  in  Paris  called  the  Polette, 
which  if  it  take  effect  will  tend  to  correct,  at  least- 
wise to  cover  a  great  error  in  the  French  govern- 
ment. The  custom  is  that  all  the  chief  places  of 
justice  throughout  all  the  eight  courts  of  Par- 
liament in  France,  besides  a  great  number  of  other 
offices,  arye  set  to  sale  by  the  King,  and  they  return 
to  him  unless  the  buyer  liveth  forty  days  after  his 
resignation  to  another.  It  is  now  propounded 
that  these  casual  offices  shall  be  absolutely  hered- 
itary, provided  that  every  officer  pay  a  yearly  re- 
venue unto  the  King,  according  to  the  valuation 
of  and  perquisites  of  the  office.  This  business  is 
now  in  hot  agitation,  but  the  issue  is  yet  doubtful. 

The  last  you  sent  I  received  by  Vacandary  in 
Paris.  So  highly  honouring  your  excellent  parts 
and  merit,  I  rest,  now  that  I  understand  French 
indifferent  well,  no  more  your  (she)  servant,  but 
your  most  faithful  servitor,  J.  H. 

Orleans,  3  March  1622 


i82  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

XXIV 

To  Sir  James  Crofts^  Knight 

WERE  I  to  freight  a  letter  with  compH- 
ments,  this  country  would  furnish  me  with 
variety,  but  of  news  a  small  store  at  this  present ; 
and  for  compliment  it  is  dangerous  to  use  any  to 
you  who  have  such  a  piercing  judgment  to  dis- 
cern semblances  from  realities. 

The  queen  mother  is  come  at  last  to  Paris,  where 
she  hath  not  been  since  Ancre's  death.  The  King 
is  also  returned  post  from  Bordeaux,  having  tra- 
versed most  part  of  his  kingdom  ;  he  settled  peace 
everywhere  he  passed,  and  quashed  divers  insurrec- 
tions, and  by  his  obedience  to  his  mother,  and  his 
lenity  towards  all  his  partisans  at  Pont  de  Ce,  where 
above  400  were  slain,  and  notwithstanding  that  he 
was  victorious,  yet  he  gave  a  general  pardon  ;  he 
hath  gained  much  upon  the  affections  of  his  people. 
His  Council  of  State  went  ambulatory  always  with 
him,  and  as  they  say  here,  never  did  men  manage 
things  with  more  wisdom.  There  is  a  war  ques- 
tionless a-fermenting  against  the  Protestants,  the 
Duke  of  Epernon,  in  a  kind  of  rodomontade  way, 
desired  leave  of  the  King  to  block  up  Rochelle, 
and  in  six  weeks  he  would  undertake  to  deliver  her 
to  his  hands,  but  I  believe  he  reckons  without  his 
host.  I  was  told  a  merry  passage  of  this  little  Gas- 
con duke,  who  is  now  the  oldest  soldier  of  France. 


OF   JAMES    HOWELL  183 

Having  come  lately  to  Paris  he  treated  with  a  pan- 
der to  procure  him  a  courtesan,  and  if  she  was  a 
damosel  (a  gentlewoman)  he  would  give  so  much, 
and  if  a  citizen  he  would  give  so  much.  The  pan- 
der did  his  office,  but  brought  him  a  citizen  clad 
in  damosel's  apparel,  so  she  and  her  maquerel  were 
paid  accordingly.  The  next  day  after,  some  of  his 
familiars  having  understood  hereof,  began  to  be 
pleasant  with  the  duke  and  to  jeer  him,  that  he  be- 
ing a  vieilroutier,  an  old  tried  soldier,  should  suffer 
himself  to  be  so  cozened  as  to  pay  for  a  citizen  after 
the  rate  of  a  gentlewoman  ;  the  little  duke  grew 
half  wild  hereupon,  and  commenced  an  action  of 
fraud  against  the  pander,  but  what  became  of  it  I 
cannot  tell  you,  but  all  Paris  rung  of  it.  I  hope  to 
return  now  very  shortly  to  England,  where  amongst 
the  rest  of  my  noble  friends  I  shall  much  rejoice  to 
see  and  serve  you,  whom  I  honour  with  no  vulgar 
affection,  so  I  am,  your  true  servitor,        J.  H. 

Orleans,  5  March  1611. 


XXV 

To  my  Cousin,  Mr  Will  Martin  at  Brussels; 
from  Paris 

Dear  Cousin, 

I  FIND  you  are  very  punctual  in  your  perform- 
ances, and  a  precise  observer  of  the  promise 
you  made  here  to  correspond  with  Mr  Altham  and 


i84  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

me  by  letters.  I  thank  you  for  the  variety  of  Ger- 
man news  you  Imparted  unto  me,  which  was  so 
neatly  couched  and  curiously  knit  together,  that 
your  letter  might  serve  for  a  pattern  to  the  best 
intelligencer.  I  am  sorry  the  affairs  of  the  Prince 
Palsgrave  go  so  untowardly  ;  the  wheel  of  war  may 
turn,  and  that  spoke  which  is  now  up  may  down 
again.  For  French  occurrences,  there  is  a  war  cer- 
tainly intended  against  them  of  the  religion  here  ; 
and  there  are  visible  preparations  afoot  already. 
Amongst  others  that  shrink  in  the  shoulders  at 
it,  the  King's  servants  are  not  very  well  pleased  with 
it,  in  regard  besides  Scots  and  Swissers,  there  are 
divers  of  the  King's  servants  that  are  Protestants. 
If  a  man  go  to  ragion  di  stato^  to  reason  of  state, 
the  French  King  hath  something  to  justify  this 
design ;  for  the  Protestants  being  so  numerous, 
and  having  near  upon  fifty  presidiary  walled  towns 
in  their  hands  for  caution,  they  have  power  to 
disturb  France  when  they  please,  and  being  abet- 
ted by  a  foreign  prince  to  give  the  King  law ;  and 
you  know  as  well  as  I  how  they  have  been  made 
use  of  to  kindle  a  fire  in  France.  Therefore  rather 
than  they  should  be  utterly  suppressed,  I  believe 
the  Spaniard  himself  would  reach  them  his  rag- 
ged-staff to  defend  them. 

I  send  you  here  inclosed  another  from  Master 
Altham,  who  respects  you  dearly,  and  we  remem- 
bered you  lately  at  La  pomme  du  pin  in  the  best 
liquor  of  the  French  grape,  I  shall  be  shortly  for 
London,  where  I  shall  not  rejoice  a  little  to  meet 


OF   JAMES    HOWELL  185 

you  ;  the  English  air  may  confirm  what  foreign 
begun,  I  mean  our  friendship  and  affections,  and 
in  me  (that  I  may  return  you  in  English  the  Latin 
verses  you  sent  me) : 

As  soon  a  little,  little  ant 

Shall  bib  the  ocean  dry, 

A  snail  shall  creep  about  the  world. 

Ere  these  affections  die. 

So,  my  dear  cousin,  may  Virtue  be  your  guide 
and  Fortune  your  companion.  —  Yours  while 

Jam.  Howell. 

Paris,  18  March  1662. 


EPISTOL^    HO-ELIAN^ 
SECTION  III 


SECTION    III 


To  my  Father 

I  AM  safely  returned  now  the  second  time  from 
beyond  the  seas,  but  I  have  yet  no  employment. 
God  and  good  friends  I  hope  will  shortly  provide 
one  for  me. 

The  Spanish  Ambassador,  Count  Gondamar, 
doth  strongly  negotiate  a  match  betwixt  our  Prince 
and  the  Infanta  of  Spain,  but  at  his  first  audience 
there  happened  an  ill-favoured  accident  (I  pray  God 
it  prove  no  ill  augury),  for  my  Lord  of  Arundell 
being  sent  to  accompany  him  to  Whitehall  upon 
a  Sunday  in  the  afternoon,  as  they  were  going  over 
the  terrasse,  it  broke  under  them,  but  only  one  was 
hurt  in  the  arm.  Gondamar  said  that  he  had  not 
cared  to  have  died  in  so  good  company.  Hesaith 
there  is  no  other  way  to  regain  the  Palatinate  but 
by  this  match,  and  to  settle  an  eternal  peace  in 
Christendom. 

The  Marquis  of  Buckingham  continueth  still 
in  fulness  of  grace  and  favour.  The  countess,  his 
mother,  sways  also  much  at  court.  She  brought 
Sir  Henry  Montague  from  delivering  law  on  the 
King's  Bench  to  look  to  his  bags  in  the  Exchequer, 
for  she  made  him  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  Eng- 


I90  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

land  ;  but  he  parted  with  his  white  staff  before  the 
year's  end,  though  his  purse  had  bled  deeply  for 
it  (above  ^20,000),  which  made  a  lord  of  this  land 
to  ask  him  at  his  return  from  court  "whether  he 
did  not  find  that  wood  was  extremely  dear  at  New- 
market," for  there  he  received  the  white  staff. 
There  is  now  a  notable  stirring  man  in  the  place, 
my  Lord  Cranfield,  who,  from  walking  about  the 
Exchange,  is  come  to  sit  Chief  Judge  in  the  Ex- 
chequer Chamber,  and  to  have  one  of  the  highest 
places  at  the  council  table.  He  is  married  to  one 
of  the  tribe  of  Fortune,  a  kinswoman  of  the  Mar- 
quis of  Buckingham.  Thus  there  is  rising  and  fall- 
ing at  court,  and  as  in  our  natural  pace  one  foot 
cannot  be  up  till  the  other  be  down, so  it  is  in  the 
affairs  of  the  world  commonly  —  one  man  riseth 
at  the  fall  of  the  other. 

I  have  no  more  to  write  at  this  time,  but  that 
with  tender  of  my  duty  to  you,  I  desire  a  continu- 
ance of  your  blessing  and  prayers.  Your  dutiful 
son,  J.  H. 

London,  March  11^  1622. 

II 

To  the  Honourable  Mr  'John  Savage  (now 
Earl  Rivers^  at  Florence 

MY  love  is  not  so  short  but  it  can  reach  as 
far  as  Florence  to  find  you  out,  and  further, 
too,  if  occasion  required,  nor  are  these  affections 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  191 

I  have  to  serve  you  so  dull  but  they  can  clamber 
over  the  Alps  and  Apennines  to  wait  upon  you, 
as  they  have  adventured  to  do  now  in  this  paper. 
I  am  sorry  I  was  not  in  London  to  kiss  your 
hands  before  you  set  to  sea,  and  much  more 
sorry  that  I  had  not  the  happiness  to  meet  you  in 
Holland  or  Brabant,  for  we  went  the  very  same 
road,  and  lay  in  Dort  and  Antwerp  in  the  same 
lodgings  you  had  lain  in  a  fortnight  before.  I 
presume  you  have  by  this  time  tasted  of  the 
sweetness  of  travel,  and  that  you  have  weaned 
your  affections  from  England  for  a  good  while. 
You  must  now  think  upon  home  as  (one  said) 
good  men  think  upon  heaven,  aiming  still  to  go 
thither,  but  not  till  they  finish  their  course  ;  and 
yours,  I  understand,  will  be  three  years.  In  the 
meantime  you  must  not  suffer  any  melting  ten- 
derness of  thoughts,  or  longing  desires,  to  distract 
or  interrupt  you  in  that  fair  road  you  are  in  to 
virtue,  and  to  beautify  within  that  comely  edifice 
which  nature  hath  built  without  you.  I  know 
your  reputation  is  precious  to  you,  as  it  should 
be  to  every  noble  mind  ;  you  have  exposed  it  now 
to  the  hazard,  therefore  you  must  be  careful  it 
receive  no  taint  at  your  return  by  not  answering 
that  expectation  which  your  Prince  and  noble 
parents  have  of  you.  You  are  now  under  the 
chiefest  clime  of  wisdom,  fair  Italy,  the  darling  of 
nature,  the  nurse  of  policy,  the  theatre  of  virtue. 
But  though  Italy  give  milk  to  Virtue  with  one 
dug,  she  often  suffers  Vice  to  suck  at  the  other; 


192  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

therefore  you  must  take  heed  you  mistake  not  the 
dug,  for  there  is  an  ill-favoured  saying  that  "  Inglese 
Italionato  e  diavolo  incarnato  "  (an  Englishman- 
Italian  is  a  devil  incarnate).  I  fear  no  such  thing  of 
you,  I  have  had  such  pregnant  proofs  of  your  inge- 
nuity and  noble  inclinations  to  virtue  and  honour: 
I  know  you  have  a  mind  to  both,  but  I  must  tell 
you  that  you  will  hardly  get  the  goodwill  of  the 
latter  unless  the  first  speak  a  good  word  for  you. 
When  you  go  to  Rome  you  may  haply  see  the 
ruins  of  two  temples,  one  dedicated  to  Virtue,  the 
other  to  Honour,  and  there  was  no  way  to  enter 
into  the  last  but  through  the  first.  Noble  sir, 
I  wish  your  good  very  seriously,  and  if  you  please 
to  call  to  memory,  and  examine  the  circumstance 
of  things,  and  my  carriage  towards  you  since  I  had 
the  happiness  to  be  known  first  to  your  honour- 
able family,  I  know  you  will  conclude  that  I  love 
and  honour  you  in  no  vulgar  way. 

My  lord,  your  grandfather,  was  complaining 
lately  that  he  had  not  heard  from  you  a  good 
while.  By  the  next  shipping  to  Leghorn,  amongst 
other  things,  he  intends-  to  send  you  a  whole 
brawn  in  collars.  I  pray  be  pleased  to  remember 
my  affectionate  service  to  Mr  Thomas  Savage, 
and  my  kind  respects  to  Mr  Bold.  For  English 
news  I  know  this  packet  comes  freighted  to  you, 
therefore  I  forbear  at  this  time  to  send  any.  Fare- 
well, noble  heir  of  honour,  and  command  always 
your  true  servitor,  J.  H. 

London,  March  24,  1622. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  193 


III 

Ti?  Sir  James  Crofts ^  Knight y  at  Saint  Osith 
in  Essex 

I  HAD  yours  upon  Tuesday  last,  and  whereas 
you  are  desirous  to  know  the  proceedings  of 
the  Parliament,  I  am  sorry  I  must  write  to  you 
that  matters  begin  to  grow  boisterous.  The  King 
retired  not  long  since  to  Newmarket  not  very 
well  pleased,  and  this  week  there  went  thither 
twelve  from  the  House  of  Commons,  to  whom 
Sir  Richard  Weston  was  the  mouth.  The  King, 
not  liking  the  message  they  brought,  called  them 
his  ambassadors,  and  in  the  large  answer  which  he 
hath  sent  to  the  Speaker,  he  saith  that  he  must 
apply  unto  them  a  speech  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
to  an  ambassador  of  Poland,  "  Legatum  expecta- 
vimus,  Heraldum  accepimus  "  (We  expected  an 
ambassador,  we  have  received  a  herald).  He  takes 
it  not  well  that  they  should  meddle  with  the 
match  betwixt  his  son  and  the  Infanta,  alleging 
an  example  of  one  of  the  kings  of  France,  who 
would  not  marry  his  son  without  the  advice  of  his 
Parliament ;  but  afterwards  that  king  grew  so 
despicable  abroad  that  no  foreign  state  would 
treat  with  him  about  anything  without  his  Parlia- 
ment. Sundry  other  high  passages  there  were ; 
as  a  caveat  he  gave  them  not  to  touch  the  honour 
of  the  King  of  Spain,  with  whom  he  was  so  far 


194  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

engaged  in  a  matrimonial  treaty  that  he  could  not 
go  back.  He  gave  them  also  a  check  for  taking 
cognizance  of  those  things  which  had  their  motion 
in  the  ordinary  courts  of  justice,  and  that  Sir 
Edward  Coke  (though  these  words  were  not 
inserted  in  the  answer),  whom  he  thought  to  be 
the  fittest  instrument  for  a  tyrant  that  ever  was  in 
England,  should  be  so  bold  as  to  call  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  crown  a  great  monster.  The  Par- 
liament after  this  was  not  long  lived,  but  broke 
up  in  discontent,  and  upon  the  point  of  dissolu- 
tion they  made  a  protest  against  divers  particulars 
in  the  aforesaid  answer  of  His  Majesty's.  My 
Lord  Digby  is  preparing  for  Spain  in  quality  of 
Ambassador  Extraordinary,  to  perfect  the  match 
betwixt  our  Prince  and  the  Lady  Infanta,  in  which 
business  Gondamar  hath  waded  already  very  deep, 
and  been  very  active,  and  ingratiated  himself  with 
divers  persons  of  quality,  ladies  especially,  yet  he 
could  do  no  good  upon  the  Lady  Hatton,  whom  he 
desired  lately  that  in  regard  he  was  her  next  neigh- 
bour (at  Ely-House)  he  might  have  the  benefit  of 
her  back  gate  to  go  abroad  into  the  fields ;  but 
she  put  him  off  with  a  compliment,  whereupon  in 
a  private  audience  lately  with  the  King  amongst 
other  passages  of  merriment,  he  told  him  that  my 
Lady  Hatton  was  a  strange  lady,  for  she  would  not 
suffer  her  husband  Sir  Edward  Coke,  to  come  in  at 
her  fore  door,  nor  him  to  go  out  at  her  back  door, 
and  so  related  the  whole  business.  He  was  also 
dispatching  a  post  lately  for  Spain,  and  the  post 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  195 

having  received  his  packet  and  kissed  his  hands, 
he  called  him  back  and  told  him  he  had  forgot 
one  thing,  which  was,  that  when  he  came  to  Spain 
he  should  commend  him  to  the  sun,  for  he  had 
not  seen  him  a  great  while,  and  in  Spain  he 
should  be  sure  to  find  him.  —  So  with  my  most 
humble  service  to  my  Lord  of  Colchester,  I  rest 
your  most  humble  servitor,  J.   H. 

London,  March  24,  1622. 

IV 

1^0  my  Brother,  Mr  Hugh  Penry 

THE  Welsh  nag  you  sent  me  was  delivered 
me  in  a  very  good  plight,  and  I  give  you  a 
thousand  thanks  for  him.  I  had  occasion  lately 
to  try  his  mettle  and  his  lungs,  and  every  one  tells 
me  he  is  right,  and  of  no  mongrel  race,  but  a 
true  mountaineer  ;  for  besides  his  toughness  and 
strength  of  lungs  up  a  hill,  he  is  quickly  curried, 
and  content  with  short  commons.  1  believe  he 
hath  not  been  long  a  highway  traveller,  for 
whereas  other  horses  when  they  pass  by  an  inn  or 
alehouse  use  to  make  towards  them  to  give  them 
a  friendly  visit,  this  nag  roundly  goes  on,  and 
scorns  to  cast  as  much  as  a  glance  upon  any  of 
them,  which  I  know  not  whether  I  shall  impute 
it  to  his  ignorance  or  height  of  spirit,  but  convers- 
ing with  the  soft  horses  of  England,  I  believe  he 
will  quickly  be  brought  to  be  more  courteous. 


196  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

The  greatest  news  we  have  now  is  the  return 
of  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Landaff,  Davenant,  Ward, 
and  Belcanquell  from  the  Synod  of  Dort,  where 
the  bishop  had  precedence  given  him  according 
to  his  episcopal  dignity.  Arminius  and  Vorstius 
were  sore  baited  there  concerning  predestination, 
election,  and  reprobation,  as  also  touching  Christ's 
death  and  man's  redemption  by  it ;  then  concern- 
ing man's  corruption  and  conversion ;  lastly,  con- 
cerning the  perseverance  of  the  saints.  I  shall  have 
shortly  the  transaction  of  the  Synod.  The  Jesuits 
have  put  out  a  jeering  libel  against  it,  and  these 
two  verses  I  remember  in  it. 

Dordrecti  Synodus  ?  nodus  ;  chorus  integer  ?  aeger  ; 
Conventus  ?  ventus  ;  Sessio  stramen  ?    Amen. 

But  I  will  confront  this  distich  with  another  I 
read  in  France  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  town  of  Dole, 
towards  Lorraine.  They  had  a  great  house  given 
them  called  L'Arc  {arcum)^  and  upon  the  river  of 
Loire,  Henry  the  Fourth  gave  them  La  Fleche, 
sagittam  in  Latin,  where  they  have  two  stately 
convents,  that  is,  bow  and  arrow  ;  whereupon  one 
made  these  verses  : 

Arcum  Dola  dedit,  dedit  illis  alma  sagittam 

Francia  ;  quis  chordam,  quam  meruere,  dabit  ? 

Fair  France  the  arrow.  Dole  gave  them  the  bow. 
Who  shall  the  string  which  they  deserve  bestow. 

No  more  now,  but  that  with  my  dear  love  to  my 
sister,  I  rest  your  most  affectionate  brother, 

J.   H. 
London,  April  16,  1622. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  197 

V 
To  the  Lord  Viscount  Colchester 

My  Good  Lord, 

I  RECEIVED  your  lordship's  of  the  last  week, 
and  according  to  your  command,  I  send  here 
enclosed  the  Venetian  Gazette.  Of  foreign  avisos, 
they  write  that  Mansfeldt  hath  been  beaten  out  of 
Germany  and  is  come  to  Sedan,  and  it  is  thought 
that  the  Duke  of  Bovillon  will  set  him  up  again 
with  a  new  army.  Marquis  Spinola  hath  newly  sat 
down  before  Berghen-op-Zoom.  Your  lordship 
knows  well  what  consequence  that  town  is  of, 
therefore  it  is  likely  this  will  be  a  hot  summer 
in  the  Netherlands.  The  French  King  is  in  open 
war  against  them  of  the  religion  ;  he  hath  already 
cleared  the  Loire  by  taking  Jerseau  and  Saumur, 
where  Monsieur  du  Plessis  sent  him  the  keys, 
which  are  promised  to  be  delivered  him  again,  but 
I  think  ad  Graecas  Calendas.  He  hath  been  also 
before  Saint  John  d'Angeli,  where  the  young  Car- 
dinal of  Guyse  died,  being  struck  down  by  the 
puff  of  a  cannon  bullet,  which  put  him  in  a  burn- 
ing fever  and  made  an  end  of  him.  The  last  town 
that  was  taken  was  Clerac,  which  was  put  to 
50,000  crowns  ransom.  Many  were  put  to  the 
sword  and  divers  gentlemen  drowned  as  they 
thought  to  escape.  This  is  the  fifteenth  caution- 
ary town  the  King  hath  taken,  and  now  they  say 


198  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

he  marcheth  towards  Montauban,  and  so  to 
Montpellier  and  Nismes,  and  then  have  at 
Rochelle.  My  Lord  Hays  is  by  this  time,  it  is 
thought,  with  the  army,  for  Sir  Edward  Herbert  is 
returned,  having  had  some  clashings  and  counter- 
buffs  with  the  favourite  Luynes,  wherein  he  com- 
ported himself  gallantly.  There  is  a  fresh  report 
blown  over  that  Luynes  is  lately  dead  in  the  army 
of  the  plague,  some  say  of  the  purples,  the  next 
cousin  german  to  it,  which  the  Protestants  give  out 
to  be  the  just  judgment  of  heaven  fallen  upon  him, 
because  he  incited  his  master  to  these  wars  against 
them.  If  he  be  not  dead,  let  him  die  when  he 
will,  he  will  leave  a  fame  behind  him  to  have  been 
the  greatest  favourite  for  the  time  that  ever  was  in 
France,  having  from  a  simple  faulconer  come  to 
be  High  Constable,  and  made  himself  and  his 
younger  brother  Grand  Dukes  and  peers,  and  his 
second  brother  Cadenet,  Marshal,  and  all  three 
married  to  princely  families. 

No  more  now,  but  that  I  most  humbly  kiss 
your  lordship's  hands,  and  shall  be  always  most 
ready  and  cheerful  to  receive  your  commandments, 
because  I  am  your  lordship's  obliged  servitor, 

J.H. 

London,  12  August  1623. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  199 

VI 

To  my  Father  from  London 

I  WAS  at  a  dead  stand  in  the  course  of  my 
fortunes  when  it  pleased  God  to  provide  me 
lately  an  employment  to  Spain,  whence  I  hope 
there  may  arise  both  repute  and  profit.  Some  of 
the  Cape  merchants  of  the  Turkey  Company, 
amongst  whom  the  chiefest  were  Sir  Robert  Nap- 
per,  and  Captain  Leat  proposed  unto  me  that 
they  had  a  great  business  in  the  Court  of  Spain  in 
agitation  many  years,  nor  was  it  now  their  busi- 
ness but  the  King's,  in  whose  name  it  is  followed. 
They  could  have  gentlemen  of  good  quality  that 
would  undertake  it.  Yet  if  I  would  take  it  upon 
me  they  would  employ  no  other,  and  assured  me 
that  the  employment  should  tend  both  to  my 
benefit  and  credit.  Now  the  business  is  this : 
There  was  a  great  Turkey  ship  called  the  Vineyard^ 
sailing  through  the  straits  towards  Constantinople, 
but  by  distress  of  weather  she  was  forced  to  put 
into  a  little  port  called  Milo,  in  Sardinia.  The 
searchers  came  aboard  of  her,  and  finding  her  richly 
laden,  for  her  cargazon  of  broad-cloth  was  worth 
the  first  penny  near  upon  ^30,000,  they  cavilled  at 
some  small  proportion  of  lead  and  tin,  which  they 
had  only  for  the  use  of  the  ship,  which  the  searchers 
alleged  to  be  ropa  de  contrabando^  prohibited  goods, 
forbv  Article  of  Peace  nothing  is  to  be  carried  to 


200  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

Turkey  that  may  arm  or  victual.  The  Viceroy  of 
Sardinia  hereupon  seized  upon  the  whole  ship 
and  all  her  goods,  landed  the  master  and  men  in 
Spain,  who  coming  to  Sir  Charles  Cornwall's,  then 
ambassador  at  the  court.  Sir  Charles  could  do 
them  little  good  at  present,  therefore  they  came  to 
England  and  complained  to  the  King  and  Council. 
His  Majesty  was  so  sensible  hereof  that  he  sent 
a  particular  commission  in  his  own  royal  name 
to  demand  a  restitution  of  the  ship  and  goods, 
and  justice  upon  the  Viceroy  of  Sardinia,  who  had 
so  apparently  broke  the  peace  and  wronged  his 
subjects.  Sir  Charles  (with  Sir  Paul  Pindar  a  while) 
laboured  in  the  business,  and  commenced  a  suit  in 
law,  but  he  was  called  home  before  he  could  do 
anything  to  purpose.  After  him  Sir  John  Digby 
(now  Lord  Digby)  went  ambassador  to  Spain, 
and  amongst  other  things  he  had  that  particular 
commission  from  His  Majesty  invested  in  him  to 
prosecute  the  suit  in  his  own  royal  name.  There- 
upon he  sent  a  well  qualified  gentleman,  Mr 
Walsingham  Gresley,  to  Sardinia,  who,  unfortun- 
ately, meeting  with  some  men-of-war  in  the  pass- 
age, was  carried  prisoner  to  Algiers.  My  Lord 
Digby  being  remanded  home,  left  the  business  in 
Mr  Cottington's  hands,  then  agent,  but  resumed 
it  at  his  return;  yet  it  proved  such  a  tedious,  in- 
tricate suit  that  he  returned  again  without  finish- 
ing the  work,  in  regard  of  the  remoteness  of  the 
island  of  Sardinia,  whence  the  witnesses  and  other 
dispatches  were  to  be  fetched.    The  Lord  Digby 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  201 

is  going  now  Ambassador  Extraordinary  to  the 
Court  of  Spain  upon  the  business  of  the  match, 
the  restitution  of  the  Palatinate,  and  other  high 
affairs  of  state,  therefore  he  is  desirous  to  transmit 
the  King's  commission  touching  this  particular 
business  to  any  gentleman  that  is  capable  to  fol- 
low it,  and  promiseth  to  assist  him  with  the  ut- 
most of  his  power,  and  i'  faith,  he  hath  good 
reason  to  do  so,  in  regard  he  hath  now  a  good, 
round  share  himself  in  it.  About  this  business  I 
am  now  preparing  to  go  to  Spain,  in  company  of 
the  Ambassador,  and  I  shall  kiss  the  King's  hands, 
as  his  agent  touching  this  particular  commission. 
I  humbly  entreat  that  your  blessing  and  prayers 
may  accompany  me  in  this  my  new  employment, 
which  I  have  undertaken  upon  very  good  terms, 
touching  expenses  and  reward.  So  with  my  dear 
love  to  my  brothers  and  sisters,  with  other  kin- 
dred and  friends  in  the  country,  I  rest  your  duti- 
ful son,  J.  H. 
London,  8  September  \6ii. 

VII 

To  Sir  Tho.  Savage,  Knight  and  Baronet,  at 
his  house  in  Long-Melford 

I  RECEIVED  your  commands  in  a  letter  which 
you  sent  me  by  Sir  John  North,  and  I  shall 
not  fail  to  serve  you  in  those  particulars.  It  hath 
pleased  God  to  dispose  of  me  once  more  for  Spain, 


202  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

upon  a  business  which  I  hope  will  make  me  good 
returns.  There  have  two  ambassadors  and  a  royal 
agent  followed  it  hitherto,  and  I  am  the  fourth 
that  is  employed  in  it.  I  defer  to  trouble  you  with 
the  particulars  of  it,  in  regard  I  hope  to  have  the 
happiness  to  kiss  your  hand  at  Tower  Hill  before 
my  departure,  which  will  not  be  till  my  Lord 
Digby  sets  forward.  He  goes  in  a  gallant,  splen- 
did equipage,  and  one  of  the  King's  ships  is  to  take 
him  in  at  Plymouth ;  and  transport  him  to  the 
Corunna  or  Saint  Anderas. 

Since  that  sad  disaster  which  befel  Archbishop 
Abbott,  to  kill  the  man  by  the  glancing  of  an 
arrow  as  he  was  shooting  at  a  deer  (which  kind  of 
death  befel  one  of  our  kings  once  in  New  Forest), 
there  had  been  a  commission  awarded  to  debate 
whether  upon  this  fact,  whereby  he  hath  shed 
human  blood,  he  be  not  to  be  deprived  of  his 
archbishopric,  and  pronounced  irregular ;  some 
were  against  him,  but  Bishop  Andrews  and  Sir 
Henry  Martin  stood  stiffly  for  him,  that  in  regard 
it  was  no  spontaneous  act,  but  a  mere  contin- 
gency, and  that  there  is  no  degree  of  men  but  is 
subject  to  misfortunes  and  casualties,  they  declared 
positively  that  he  was  not  to  fall  from  his  dignity 
or  function,  but  should  still  remain  a  regular,  and 
in  statu  quo prius ;  during  this  debate  he  petitioned 
the  King  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  retire  to 
his  almshouse  at  Guildford,  where  he  was  born,  to 
pass  the  remainder  of  his  life;  but  he  is  now  come 
to  be  again  rectus  in  curia,  absolutely  quitted  and 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  203 

restored  to  all  things.  But  for  the  wife  of  him 
which  was  killed,  it  was  no  misfortune  to  her,  for 
he  hath  endowed  herself  and  her  children  with 
such  an  estate,  that  they  say  her  husband  could 
never  have  got. — So  I  humbly  kiss  your  hands, 
and  rest  vour  most  obliged  servitor, 

J.  H. 
London,  9  November  1622. 


VIII 

To  Captain  Nich.  Leatyfro?n  Madrid ^  at  his 
house  in  London 

I  AM  safely  come  to  the  Court  of  Spain,  and 
although  bv  reason  of  that  misfortune  which 
befel  Mr  Altham  and  me,  of  wounding  the  ser- 
geants in  Lombard  Street,  we  stayed  three  weeks 
behind  my  Lord  xA-mbassador,  yet  we  came  hither 
time  enough  to  attend  him  to  Court  at  his  first 
audience. 

The  English  nation  is  better  looked  on  now  in 
Spain  than  ordinary,  because  of  the  hopes  there 
are  of  a  match,  which  the  merchant  and  commun- 
alty  much  desire,  though  the  nobility  and  gentry 
be  not  so  forward  for  it.  So  that  in  this  point  the 
pulse  of  Spain  beats  quite  contrary  to  that  of  Eng- 
land, where  the  people  are  averse  to  this  match, 
and  the  nobility  with  most  part  of  the  gentry  in- 
clinable. 


204  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

I  have  perused  all  the  papers  I  could  get  into 
my  hands  touching  the  business  of  the  ship  Vine- 
yard^ and  I  find  that  they  are  higher  than  I  in 
bulk,  though  closely  prest  together ;  I  have  cast 
up  what  is  awarded  by  all  the  sentences  of  view 
and  review,  by  the  Council  of  State  and  War,  and 
I  find  the  whole  sum,  as  well  principal  as  interest 
upon  interest,  all  sorts  of  damages,  and  processal 
charges,  come  to  above  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  crowns.  The  Conde  del  ReaU  quondam 
Viceroy  of  Sardinia,  who  is  adjudged  to  pay  most 
part  of  the  money,  is  here,  and  he  is  major-domo. 
Lord  Steward  to  the  Infante  Cardinal.  If  he  hath 
wherewith,  I  doubt  not  but  to  recover  the  money, 
for  I  hope  to  have  come  in  a  favourable  conjunc- 
ture of  time,  and  my  Lord  Ambassador,  who  is  so 
highly  esteemed  here,  doth  assure  me  of  his  best 
furtherance.  So  praying  I  may  prove  as  success- 
ful, as  I  shall  be  faithful  in  this  great  business, 
I  rest  yours  to  dispose  of,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  28  December  1622. 


IX 

To  Mr  Arthur  Hopton^  from  Madrid 

SINCE  I  was  made  happy  with  your  acquaint- 
ance, I  have  received  sundry  strong  evidences 
of  your  love  and  good  wishes  unto  me,  which 
have  tied  me  unto  you  in  no  common  obligation 
of  thanks.    I   am  in  despair  ever  to  cancel  this 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  205 

bond,  nor  would  I  do  it,  but  rather  endear  the 
engagement  more  and  more. 

The  treaty  of  the  match  betwixt  our  Prince  and 
the  Lady  Infanta  is  now  strongly  afoot.  She  is  a 
very  comely  lady,  rather  of  a  Flemish  complexion 
than  Spanish,  fair  haired,  and  carrieth  a  most  pure 
mixture  of  red  and  white  in  her  face  ;  she  is  full 
and  big  lipped,  which  is  held  a  beautv  rather  than 
a  blemish  or  anv  excess  in  the  Austrian  family,  it 
being  a  thing  incident  to  most  of  that  race.  She 
goes  now  upon  sixteen,  and  is  of  a  tallness  agree- 
able to  those  years.  The  King  is  also  of  such  a 
complexion  and  is  under  twenty.  He  hath  two 
brothers,  Don  Carlos  and  Don  Hernando,  who 
though  a  youth  of  twelve,  yet  he  is  Cardinal  and 
Archbishop  of  Toledo,  which,  in  regard  it  hath 
the  Chancellorship  of  Castile  annexed  to  it,  is  the 
greatest  spiritual  dignity  in  Christendom  after  the 
Papacy,  for  it  is  valued  at  300,000  crowns  per 
annum.  Don  Carlos  is  of  a  different  complexion 
from  all  the  rest,  for  he  is  black-haired  and  of  a 
Spanish  hue.  He  hath  neither  office,  command, 
dignity  or  title,  but  is  an  individual  companion 
to  the  King,  and  what  clothes  soever  are  provided 
for  the  King  he  hath  the  very  same,  and  as  often, 
from  top  to  toe.  He  is  the  better  beloved  of  the 
people  for  his  complexion ;  for  one  shall  hear  the 
Spaniard  sigh  and  lament,  saying,  "  O,  when  shall 
we  have  a  king  again  of  our  own  colour!  " 

I  pray  commend  me  kindly  to  all  at  your  house, 
and   send   me  word  when   the   young  gentlemen 


ao6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

return-  from  Italy.  So  with  my  most  affectionate 
respects  to  yourself,  I  rest  your  true  friend  to 
serve  you,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  5  January  1622. 

X 

To  Captain  Nic.  heat ^  from  Madrid 

YOURS  of  the  loth  of  this  present  I  received 
by  Mr  Simon  Digby,  with  the  inclosed  to 
your  son  in  Alicant,  which  is  safely  sent.  Since  my 
last  unto  you  I  had  access  to  Olivares,  the  favourite 
that  rules  all.  I  had  also  audience  of  the  King, 
to  whom  I  delivered  two  memorials  since,  in  His 
Majesty's  name  of  Great  Britain,  that  a  particu- 
lar Junta  of  some  of  the  Council  of  State  and 
War  might  be  appointed  to  determine  the  busi- 
ness. The  last  memorial  had  so  good  success 
that  the  referees  are  nominated,  whereof  the  chief- 
est  is  the  Duke  of  Infantado.  Here  it  is  not  the 
style  to  claw  and  compliment  with  the  King  or 
idolize  him  by  Sacred  Sovereign  and  Most  Excel- 
lent Majesty,  but  the  Spaniard  when  he  petitions 
to  his  king  gives  him  no  other  character  but  "Sir," 
and  so  relating  his  business;  at  the  end  he  doth 
ask  and  demand  justice  of  him.  When  I  have 
done  with  the  Viceroy  here,  I  shall  hasten  my 
dispatches  for  Sardinia.  Since  my  last  1  went  to 
liquidate  the  account  more  particularly,  and  I  find 
that  of  the  250,000  crowns  there  are  above  40,000 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  207 

due  unto  you,  which  might  serve  for  a  good  al- 
derman's estate. 

Your  son  in  Alicante  writes  to  me  of  another 
mischance  that  is  befallen  the  ship  Amitie  about 
Majorca,  whereof  you  were  one  of  the  proprietaries. 
I  am  very  sorrv  to  hear  of  it,  and  touching  any 
dispatches  that  are  to  be  had  hence,  I  shall  en- 
deavour to  procure  you  them  according  to  instruc- 
tions. 

Your  cousin,  Richard  Altham,  remembers  his 
kind  respects  unto  you,  and  sends  you  many 
thanks  for  the  pains  vou  took  in  freeing  us  from 
that  trouble  which  the  scuffle  with  the  sergeants 
brought  upon  us.  So  I  rest  yours  ready  to  serve 
you,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  5  January  1622. 

XI 

To  the  Lord  Viscount  Colchester,  from  Madrid 

Right   Honourable, 

THE  grand  business  of  the  match  goes  so  fairly 
on  that  a  special  Junta  is  appointed  to  treat 
of  it,  the  names  whereof  I  send  you  here  inclosed. 
They  have  proceeded  so  far  that  most  of  the 
articles  are  agreed  upon.  Mr  George  Gage  is 
lately  come  hither  from  Rome,  a  polite  and  pru- 
dent gentleman,  who  hath  negotiated  some  things 
in  that  Court  for  the  advance  of  the  business  with 
the  Cardinals  Bandino,  Lodovisio,  and  La  Susanna, 


2o8  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

who  are  the  main  men  there  to  whom  the  drawing 
of  the  dispensation  is  referred. 

The  late  taking  of  Ormus  by  the  Persians  from 
the  Crown  of  Portugal  keeps  a  great  noise  here, 
and  the  rather  because  the  exploit  was  done  by 
the  assistance  of  the  English  ships  that  were  then 
thereabouts.  My  Lord  Digby  went  to  Court  and 
gave  a  round  satisfaction  in  this  point ;  for  it  was 
no  voluntary  but  a  constrained  act  in  the  English, 
who  being  in  the  Persian's  port  were  suddenly 
embarked  for  the  service;  and  the  Persian  herein 
did  no  more  than  what  is  usual  amongst  Chris- 
tian princes  themselves,  and  which  is  oftener  put 
in  practice  by  the  King  of  Spain  and  his  viceroys, 
than  by  any  other,  viz.,  to  make  an  embargo  of 
any  stranger's  ship  that  rides  within  his  ports 
upon  all  occasions.  It  was  feared  this  surprisal  of 
Orm*us,  which  was  the  greatest  mart  in  all  the 
Orient  for  all  sorts  of  jewels,  would  have  bred  ill 
blood,  and  prejudiced  the  proceedings  of  the 
match,  but  the  Spaniard  is  a  rational  man,  and 
will  be  satisfied  with  reason.  Count  Olivares  is  the 
main  man  who  sways  all,  and  'tis  thought  he  is 
not  so  much  affected  to  an  alliance  with  England 
as  his  predecessor  the  Duke  of  Lerma  was,  who 
set  it  first  afoot  betwixt  Prince  Henry  and  this 
Queen  of  France.  The  Duke  of  Lerma  was  the 
greatest  privado^  the  greatest  favourite,  that  ever 
was  in  Spain  since  Don  Alvaro  de  Luna.  He 
brought,  himself,  tht  Duke  of  Uzeda  his  son,  and 
the  Duke  of  Cea  his  grandchild,  to  be  all  Grandees 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  209 

of  Spain,  which  is  the  greatest  title  that  a  Spanish 
subject  is  capable  of;  they  have  a  privilege  to  stand 
covered  before  the  King,  and  at  their  election  there 
is  no  other  ceremony  but  only  these  three  words 
by  the  King,  "  Cobrese  por  Grande"  (cover  your- 
self for  a  Grandee),  and  that  is  all.  The  Cardinal 
Duke  of  Lerma  lives  at  Valladolid ;  he  officiates 
and  sings  mass,  and  passeth  his  old  age  in  devo- 
tion and  exercises  of  piety.  It  is  a  common  and,  in- 
deed, a  commendable  custom  amongst  the  Span- 
iard when  he  hath  passed  his  grand  c/imacferic,  Rnd 
is  grown  decrepit,  to  make  a  voluntary  resignation 
of  offices  be  they  never  so  great  and  profitable 
(though  I  cannot  say  Lerma  did  so),  and  sequest- 
ring  and  weaning  themselves,  as  it  were,  from  all 
mundane  negotiations  and  incumbrances,  to  retire 
to  some  place  of  devotion,  and  spend  the  residue 
of  their  days  in  meditation  and  in  preparing  them- 
selves for  another  world.  Charles  the  Emperor 
shewed  them  the  way,  who  left  the  empire  to  his 
brother,  and  all  the  rest  of  his  dominions  to  his 
son  Philip  the  Second,  and  so,  taking  with  him 
his  two  sisters,  he  retired  into  a  monastery,  they 
into  a  nunnery.  This  doth  not  suit  well  with  the 
genius  of  an  Englishman,  who  loves  not  to  pull 
off  his  clothes  till  he  goes  to  bed.  I  will  conclude 
with  some  verses  1  saw  under  a  huge  Rodomon- 
tado  picture  of  the  Duke  of  Lerma,  wherein  he  is 
painted  like  a  giant  bearing  up  the  monarchy  of 
Spain,  that  of  France,  and  the  Popedom,  upon 
his  shoulders,  with  this  stanza — 


aio  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

Sobre  los  ombres  d'este  Atlante 
Yazen  en  aquestos  dias 
Estas  tres  Monarquias. 

Upon  the  shoulders  of  this  Atlas  lies 

The  Popedom  and  two  mighty  Monarchies. 

So  I  most  humbly  kiss  your  Lordship's  hands, 
and  rest  ever  most  ready  at  your  Lordship's  com- 
mand, J.  H. 

Madrid,  3  February  1611. 


XII 

To  my  Father 

ALL  affairs  went  on  fairly  here,  specially  that 
of  the  match  when  Master  Endymion 
Porter  brought  lately  my  Lord  of  Bristol  a  dis- 
patch from  England  of  a  high  nature,  wherein  the 
earl  is  commanded  to  represent  unto  this  King 
how  much  His  Majesty  of  Great  Britain  since  the 
beginning  of  these  German  wars  hath  laboured  to 
merit  well  of  this  crown,  and  of  the  whole  House 
of  Austria,  by  a  long  and  lingering  patience, 
grounded  still  upon  assurances  hence,  that  care 
should  be  had  of  his  honour,  his  daughter's  join- 
ture, and  grandchildren's  patrimony;  yet  how 
crossly  all  things  had  proceeded  in  the  treaty  at 
Brussels,  managed  by  Sir  Richard  Weston,  as  also 
that  in   the   Palatinate  by  the   Lord  Chichester ; 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  211 

how  in  treating-time  the  town  and  castle  of  Heidel- 
berg were  taken,  Manheim  besieged,  and  all  acts 
of  hostility  used,  notwithstanding  the  fair  profes- 
sions made  by  this  King,  the  Infanta  at  Brussels, 
and  other  his  ministers  ;  how  merely  out  of  re- 
spect to  this  King  he  had  neglected  all  martial 
means  which  probably  might  have  preserved  the 
Palatinate ;  those  thin  garrisons  which  he  had 
sent  thither  being  rather  for  honour's  sake  to  keep 
a  tooting  until  a  general  accommodation,  than 
that  he  relied  any  way  upon  their  strength  ;  and 
since  that  there  are  no  other  fruits  of  all  this  but 
reproach  and  scorn,  and  that  those  good  offices 
which  he  used  towards  the  Emperor  on  the  behalf 
of  his  son-in-law,  which  he  was  so  much  encouraged 
bv  letters  from  hence  should  take  effect,  have  not 
sorted  to  any  other  issue,  than  to  a  plain  affront  and 
a  high  injuring  of  both  their  Majesties,  though  in 
a  different  degree ;  the  earl  is  to  tell  him  that  His 
Majesty  of  Great  Britain  hopes  and  desires  that 
out  of  a  true  apprehension  of  these  wrongs  offered 
unto  them  both,  he  will  as  his  dear  and  loving 
brother  faithfully  promise  and  undertake  upon  his 
honour,  confirming  the  same  under  his  hand  and 
seal,  either  that  Heidelberg  shall  be  within  seventy 
days  rendered  into  his  hands;  as  also  that  there 
shall  be  within  the  said  term  of  seventy  days  a  sus- 
pension of  arms  in  the  Palatinate,  and  that  a  treaty 
shall  recommence  upon  such  terms  as  he  pro- 
pounded in  November  last,  which  this  King  held 
then  to  be  reasonable  ;  and  in  case  that  this  be  not 


212  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

yielded  unto  by  the  Emperor,  that  then  this  King 
join  forces  with  His  Majesty  of  England,  for  the 
recovery  of  the  Palatinate,  which  upon  this  trust 
hath  been  lost ;  or  in  case  his  forces  at  this  time 
be  otherwise  employed,  that  they  cannot  give  His 
Majesty  that  assistance  he  desires  and  deserves, 
that  at  least  he  will  permit  a  free  and  friendly  pass- 
age through  his  territories  such  forces  as  His  Maj- 
esty of  Great  Britain  shall  employ  in  Germany. 
Of  all  which,  if  the  Earl  of  Bristol  hath  not  from 
the  King  of  Spain  a  direct  assurance  under  his 
hand  and  seal  ten  days  after  his  audience,  that 
then  he  take  his  leave  and  return  to  England  to 
His  Majesty's  presence,  also  to  proceed  in  the  ne- 
gotiation of  the  match  according  to  former  instruc- 
tions. 

This  was  the  main  substance  of  His  Majesty's 
late  letter,  yet  there  was  a  postscript  added  that  in 
case  a  rupture  happen  betwixt  the  two  crowns  the 
earl  should  not  come  instantly  and  abruptly  away, 
but  that  he  should  send  advice  first  to  England 
and  carry  the  business  so  that  the  world  should 
not  presently  know  of  it. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  traverses  we  are  con- 
fident here  that  the  match  will  take,  otherwise  my 
cake  is  dough.  There  was  a  great  difference  in  one 
of  the  capitulations  betwixt  the  two  kings  how  long 
the  children  which  should  issue  of  this  marriage 
were  to  continue  sub  regimine  matris^  under  the 
tutelage  of  the  mother.  This  King  demanded  four- 
teen years  at  first,  then  twelve,  but  now  he  is  come 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  213 

to  nine,  which  is  newly  condescended  unto.  I  re- 
ceived yours  of  the  ist  of  September  in  another 
from  Sir  James  Crofts,  wherein  it  was  no  small 
comfort  to  me  to  hear  of  your  health.  I  am  to 
go  hence  shortly  for  Sardinia,  a  dangerous  voyage, 
by  reason  of  Algier  pirates.  I  humbly  desire  your 
prayers  may  accompany  your  dutiful  son, 

J.  H. 
Madrid,  23  February  1622. 

XIII 

To  Sir  James  Crofts,  K?iight 

YOURS  of  the  2nd  of  October  came  to  safe 
hand  with  the  enclosed.  You  write  that  there 
came  despatches  lately  from  Rome,  wherein  the 
Pope  seems  to  endeavour  to  insinuate  himself  into 
a  direct  treaty  with  England,  and  to  negotiate  im- 
mediately with  our  King  touching  the  dispensation, 
which  he  not  only  labours  to  evade,  but  utterly 
disclaims,  it  being  by  article  the  task  of  this  King 
to  procure  all  despatches  thence.  I  thank  you  for 
sending  me  this  news.  You  shall  understand  there 
came  lately  an  express  from  R^ome  also  to  this 
court,  touching  the  business  of  the  match,  which 
gave  very  good  content,  but  the  dispatch  and  new 
instructions  which  Mr  Endymion  Porter  brought 
my  Lord  of  Bristol  lately  from  England,  touching 
the  Prince  Palatine,  filled  us  with  apprehension 
of  fear.    Our  ambassadors  here  have  had  audience 


214  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

of  this  King  already  about  those  propositions,  and 
we  hope  that  Master  Porter  will  carry  back  such 
things  as  will  satisfy.  Touching  the  two  points  in 
the  treaty  wherein  the  two  kings  differed  most, 
viz.,  about  the  education  of  the  children,  and  the 
exemption  of  the  Infanta's  ecclesiastic  servants 
from  secular  jurisdiction,  both  these  points  are 
cleared,  for  the  Spaniard  is  come  from  fourteen 
years  to  ten,  and  for  so  long  time  the  infant  princes 
shall  remain  under  the  mother's  government.  And 
for  the  other  point  the  ecclesiastical  superior  shall 
first  take  notice  of  the  offence  that  shall  be  com- 
mitted by  any  spiritual  person  belonging  to  the 
Infanta's  family,  and  according  to  the  merit  thereof 
either  deliver  him  by  degradation  to  the  secular 
justice,  or  banish  him  the  kingdom  according  to 
the  quality  of  the  delict,  and  it  is  the  same  that  is 
practised  in  this  kingdom  and  other  parts  that 
adhere  to  Rome. 

The  Conde  de  Monterre  goes  Viceroy  to  Na- 
ples, the  Marquis  de  Montesclaros  being  put  by, 
the  gallanter  man  of  the  two.  I  was  told  of  a  witty 
saying  of  his  when  the  Duke  of  Lerma  had  the 
vogue  in  this  court  ;  for  going  one  morning  to 
speak  with  the  duke,  and  having  danced  attend- 
ance a  long  time,  he  peeped  through  a  slit  in  the 
hanging,  and  spied  Don  Rodrigo  Calderon,  a  great 
man  (who  was  lately  beheaded  here  for  poisoning 
the  late  Queen  Dowager),  delivering  the  duke  a 
paper  upon  his  knees,  whereat  the  marquis  smiled 
and  said,  "  Voto  a  tal,  aquel  hombre  sube  mas  a 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  215 

las  rodillas,  que  yo  no  hago  a  los  pies  "  (I  swear 
that  man  climbs  higher  upon  his  knees  than  I  can 
upon  my  feet).  Indeed  I  have  read  it  to  be  a  true 
court  rule  that  descendendo  ascendendum  est  in  Aula^ 
descending  is  the  way  to  ascend  at  court.  There  is 
a  kind  of  humility  and  compliance  that  is  far  from 
any  servile  baseness  or  sordid  flatterv,  and  may  be 
termed  discretion  rather  than  adulation.  I  intend, 
God  willing,  to  go  for  Sardinia  this  spring.  I  hope 
to  have  better  luck  than  Master  Walsingham 
Gresley  had,  who  some  few  years  since  in  his  pass- 
age thither  upon  the  same  business  that  I  have  in 
agitation  met  with  some  Turkish  men-of-war,  and 
so  was  carried  a  slave  to  Algiers.  —  So  with  my 
true  respects  to  you,  I  rest  your  faithful  servant, 

J.  H. 
Madrid,  12  March  1622. 


XIV 

To  Sir  Francis  Cottington^  Secretary  to  His  High- 
ness the  Prince  of  Wales^  at  Saint  'James 

I  BELIEVE  it  will  not  be  unpleasing  unto  you 
to  hear  of  the  procedure  and  success  of  that 
business  wherein  yourself  hath  been  so  long  versed 
—  I  mean  the  great  suit  against  the  quondam 
•Viceroy  of  Sardinia,  the  Conde  del  a  Real.  Count 
Gondomar's  coming  was  a  great  advantage  unto 
me,  who  hath  done  me  many   favours,  besides  a 


2i6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

confirmation  of  the  two  sentences  of  view  and  re- 
view, and  of  the  execution  against  the  Viceroy.  I 
have  procured  a  royal  schedule,  which  I  caused  to 
be  printed,  and  whereof  I  send  you  here  enclosed 
a  copy,  by  which  schedule  I  have  power  to  arrest 
his  very  person  ;  and  my  lawyers  tell  me  there  was 
never  such  a  schedule  granted  before.  I  have  also 
by  virtue  of  it  priority  of  all  other  his  creditors. 
He  hath  made  an  imperfect  overture  of  a  com- 
position, and  showed  me  some  trivial  old-fashioned 
jewels,  but  nothing  equivalent  to  the  debt.  And 
now  that  I  speak  of  jewels,  the  late  surprisal  of 
Ormus,  by  the  assistance  of  our  ships,  sinks  deep 
in  their  stomachs  here,  and  we  were  afraid  it  would 
have  spoiled  all  proceedings;  but  my  Lord  Digby, 
now  Earl  of  Bristol  (for  Count  Gondomar  brought 
him  over  his  patent),  hath  calmed  all  things  at  his 
last  audience. 

There  were  luminaries  of  joy  lately  here  for  the 
victory  that  Don  Gonzalez  de  Cordova  got  over 
Count  Mansfelt  in  the  Netherlands  with  that  army 
which  the  Duke  of  Bouillon  had  levied  for  him  ; 
but  some  say  they  have  not  much  reason  to  re- 
joice, for  though  the  infantry  suffered,  yet  Mans- 
felt got  clear  with  all  his  horse  by  a  notable  retreat, 
and  they  say  here  it  was  the  greatest  piece  of 
service  and  art  he  ever  did,  it  being  a  maxim 
that  there  is  nothing  so  difficult  in  the  art  of  war 
as  an  honourable  retreat.  Besides,  the  report  of 
his  coming  to  Breda  caused  Marquis  Spinola  to 
raise  the  siege  before  Berghen,  to  burn  his  tents. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  217 

and  to  pack  away  suddenly,  for  which  he  is  much 
censured  here. 

Captain  Leat  and  others  have  written  to  me  of 
the  favourable  report  you  pleased  to  make  of  my 
endeavours  here,  for  which  I  return  you  humble 
thanks.  And  though  you  have  left  behind  you  a 
multitude  of  servants  in  this  court,  yet  if  occasion 
were  offered,  none  should  be  more  forward  to 
go  on  your  errand  than  your  humble  and  faithful 
servitor,  J-  H. 

Madrid,  15  March  1622. 

XV 

To  the  Honourable  Sir  Thos.  Savage,  Knight 
and  Baronet 

THE  great  business  of  the  match  was  tend- 
ing to  a  period,  the  articles  reflecting  both 
upon  Church  and  State  being  capitulated  and  in- 
terchangeably accorded  on  both  sides,  and  there 
wanted  nothing  to  consummate  all  things,  when 
to  the  wonderment  of  the  world  the  Prince  and 
the  Marquis  of  Buckingham  arrived  at  this 
court  on  Friday  last  upon  the  close  of  the  even- 
ing. They  alighted  at  my  Lord  of  Bristol's  house, 
and  the  Marquis  (Mr  Thomas  Smith)  came  in 
first  with  a  portmanteau  under  his  arm,  then 
(Mr  John  Smith)  the  Prince  was  sent  for,  who 
stayed  a  while  the  other  side  of  the  street  in  the 
dark.    My  Lord  of  Bristol,  in  a  kind  of  astonish- 


2i8  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

ment,  brought  him  up  to  his  bedchamber,  where 
he  presently  called  for  pen  and  ink,  and  despatched 
a  post  that  night  to  England  to  acquaint  His 
Majesty  how  in  less  than  sixteen  days  he  was 
come  safely  to  the  court  of  Spain.  That  post  went 
lightly  laden,  for  he  carried  but  three  letters.  The 
next  day  came  Sir  Francis  Cottington  and  Mr 
Porter,  and  dark  rumours  ran  in  every  corner  how 
some  great  man  was  come  from  England,  and 
some  would  not  stick  to  say  amongst  the  vulgar 
it  was  the  King.  But  towards  the  evening  on  Sat- 
urday the  Marquis  went  in  a  close  coach  to  court, 
where  he  had  private  audience  of  this  King,  who 
sent  Olivares  to  accompany  him  back  to  the  Prince, 
where  he  kneeled  and  kissed  his  hands,  and  hugged 
his  thighs,  and  delivered  how  unmeasurably  glad 
his  Catholic  Majesty  was  of  his  coming,  with  other 
high  compliments,  which  Mr  Porter  did  inter- 
pret. About  ten  o'clock  that  night  the  King  him- 
self came  in  a  close  coach  with  intent  to  visit  the 
Prince,  who,  hearing  of  it,  met  him  halfway,  and 
after  salutations  and  divers  embraces  which  passed 
in  the  first  interview  they  parted  late.  I  forgot  to 
tell  you  that  Count  Gondomar,  being  sworn  Coun- 
cillor of  State  that  morning,  having  been  before 
but  one  of  the  Council  of  War,  he  came  in  great 
haste  to  visit  the  Prince,  saying  he  had  strange 
news  to  tell  him,  which  was  that  an  Englishman 
was  sworn  Privy  Councillor  of  Spain,  meaning 
himself,  who  he  said  was  an  Englishman  in  his 
heart.    On  Sunday  following,  the  King  in  the  after- 


OF  JAMES    HOWELL  219 

noon  came  abroad  to  take  the  air  with  the  Queen, 
his  two  brothers,  and  the  Infanta,  who  were  all 
in  one  coach  ;  but  the  Infanta  sat  in  the  bootikin 
with  a  blue  riband  about  her  arm,  of  purpose  that 
the  Prince  might  distinguish  her.  There  were 
above  twenty  coaches  besides  of  grandees,  noble- 
men, and  ladies  that  attended  them.  And  now  it 
was  publicly  known  amongst  the  vulgar  that  it 
was  the  Prince  of  Wales  who  had  come,  and  the 
confluence  of  people  before  my  Lord  of  Bristol's 
house  was  so  great  and  greedy  to  see  the  Prince, 
that  to  clear  the  way  Sir  Lewis  Dives  went  out 
arid  took  coach,  and  all  the  crowd  of  people  went 
after  him.  So  the  Prince  himself  a  little  after  took 
coach,  wherein  there  were  the  Earl  of  Bristol,  Sir 
Walter  Ashton,  and  Count  Gondomar,  and  so  went 
to  the  Prado,  a  place  hard  by,  of  purpose  to  take 
the  air,  where  they  stayed  till  the  King  passed 
by.  As  soon  as  the  Infanta  saw  the  Prince  her 
colour  rose  very  high,  which  we  hold  to  be  an 
impression  of  love  and  affection,  tor  the  face  is 
oftentimes  a  true  index  of  the  heart.  Upon  Mon- 
day morning  after  the  King  sent  some  of  his  prime 
nobles  and  other  gentlemen  to  attend  the  Prince 
in  quality  of  officers,  as  one  to  be  his  major-domo 
(his  steward),  another  to  be  master  of  the  horse, 
and  so  too  inferior  officers,  so  that  there  is  a  com- 
plete court  now  at  my  Lord  of  Bristol's  house. 
But  upon  Sunday  next  the  Prince  is  to  remove  to 
the  King's  palace,  where  there  is  one  of  the  chief 
quarters  of  the  house  providing  for  him.    By  the 


220  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

next  opportunity  you  shall  hear  more.  —  In  the 
interim  I  take  my  leave  and  rest  your  most  hum- 
ble and  ready  servitor,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  March  27,  1623. 

XVI 

^0  Sir  Eubuk  Thelwall,  Knight,  at  Gray's  Inn 

I  KNOW  the  eyes  of  all  England  are  earnestly 
fixed  now  upon  Spain,  her  best  jewel  being 
here;  but  his  journey  was  like  to  be  spoiled  in 
France,  for  if  he  had  stayed  but  a  little  longer  at 
Bayonne,  the  last  town  of  that  kingdom  hither- 
wards,  he  had  been  discovered,  for  Monsieur  Gra- 
mond,  the  governor,  had  notice  of  him  not  long 
after  he  had  taken  post.  The  people  here  do 
mightily  magnify  the  gallantry  of  the  journey,  and 
cry  out  that  he  deserved  to  have  the  Infanta  thrown 
into  his  arms  the  first  night  he  came.  He  hath 
been  entertained  with  all  the  magnificence  that 
possibly  could  be  devised.  On  Sunday  last,  in 
the  morning  betimes,  he  went  to  Saint  Hierom's 
monastery,  whence  the  Kings  of  Spain  used  to  be- 
fetched  the  day  they  are  crowned ;  and  thither 
the  King  came  in  person  with  his  two  brothers, 
his  eight  counsels,  and  the  flower  of  the  nobility. 
He  rode  upon  the  King's  right  hand  through  the 
heart  of  the  town  under  a  great  canopy,  and  was 
brought  so  into  his  lodgings  in  the  King's  palace, 
and  the  King  himself  accompanied  him  to  his  very 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  221 

bedchamber.  It  was  a  very  glorious  sight  to  be- 
hold, for  the  custom  of  the  Spaniard  is,  though 
he  go  plain  in  his  ordinary  habit,  yet  upon  some 
festival  or  cause  of  triumph,  there  's  none  goes 
beyond  him  in  gaudiness. 

We  daily  hope  for  the  Pope's  breve  or  dispen- 
sation to  perfect  the  business,  though  there  be 
dark  whispers  abroad  that  it  has  come  already,  but 
that  upon  this  unexpected  coming  of  the  Prince, 
it  was  sent  back  to  Rome,  and  some  new  clauses 
thrust  in  for  their  further  advantage.  Till  this 
despatch  comes  matters  are  at  a  kind  of  stand  ;  yet 
His  Highness  makes  account  to  be  back  in  Eng- 
land about  the  latter  end  of  May.  God  Almighty 
turn  all  to  the  best,  and  to  what  shall  be  most 
conducible  to  his  glory.  —  So  with  my  due  re- 
spects unto  you,  I  rest,  your  much  obliged  servi- 
tor,  '  J.  H. 

Madrid,  April  i,  1623. 

XVII 

'To  Captain  Leat 

HAVING  brought  up  the  law  to  the  highest 
point  against  the  Viceroy  of  Sardinia,  and 
ihat  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  as  may  appear 
unto  vou  by  that  printed  schedule  I  sent  to  vou 
in  my  last,  and  finding  an  apparent  disability  in 
him  to  satisfy  the  debt,  I  thought  upon  a  new 
design,  and  framed  a  memorial  to  the  King,  and 


222  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

wrought  good  strong  means  to  have  it  seconded  : 
that  in  regard  that  predatory  act  of  seizing  upon 
the  ship  Vineyard  in  Sardinia  with  all  her  goods, 
was  done  by  His  Majesty's  viceroy,  his  sovereign 
minister  of  state,  one  that  immediately  represented 
his  own  royal  person,  and  that  the  said  viceroy 
was  insolvent,  I  desired  His  Majesty  would  be 
pleased  to  grant  a  warrant  for  the  relief  of  both 
parties  to  load  so  many  thousand  sterils  or  meas- 
ures of  corn  out  of  Sardinia  and  Sicily  custom- 
free.  I  had  gone  far  in  the  business  when  Sir 
Francis  Cottington  sent  for  me,  and  required  me 
in  the  Prince  his  name  to  proceed  no  further  herein 
till  he  was  departed.  So  His  Highness'  presence 
here  hath  turned  rather  to  my  disadvantage  than 
otherwise.  Amongst  other  grandezas  which  the 
King  of  Spain  conferred  upon  our  Prince,  one  was 
the  releasement  of  prisoners,  and  that  all  petitions  of 
grace  should  come  to  him  for  the  first  month,  but 
he  hath  been  wonderful  sparing  in  receiving  any, 
specially  from  any  English,  Irish,  or  Scot.  Your 
son  Nicholas  is  come  hither  from  Alicante  about 
the  ship  Amity^  and  I  shall  be  ready  to  second 
him  in  getting  satisfaction. — So  I  rest  yours  ready 
to  serve  you,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  June  3,  1623. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  223 

XVIII 

To  Captain  Tho.  Porter 

Noble  Captain, 

MY  last  unto  you  was  in  Spanish,  in  answer 
to  one  of  yours  in  the  same  language,  and 
amongst  that  confluence  of  English  gallants,  which 
upon  the  occasion  of  His  Highness  being  here, 
are  come  to  this  court,  I  fed  myself  with  hopes  a 
long  while  to  have  seen  you,  but  I  find  now  that 
those  hopes  were  imped  with  false  feathers.  I  know 
your  heart  is  here  and  your  best  affections,  there- 
fore I  wonder  what  keeps  back  your  person  ;  but 
1  conceive  the  reason  to  be  that  you  intend  to 
come  like  yourself,  to  come  commander-in-chief 
of  one  of  the  castles  of  the  crown,  one  of  the  ships 
royal.  If  you  come  so  to  this  shore  side,  I  hope 
you  will  have  time  to  come  to  the  court.  I  have 
at  any  time  a  good  lodging  for  you,  and  my  land- 
lady is  none  of  the  meanest,  and  her  husband  hath 
many  good  parts.  I  heard  her  setting  him  forth 
one  day  and  giving  this  character  of  him:  "Mi 
marido  es  buen  musico,  buen  esgrimidor,  buen  es- 
crivano,  excellente  arithmetico,  salvo  que  no  mul- 
tiplica  "  (Mv  husband  is  a  good  musician,  a  good 
fencer,  a  good  horseman,  a  good  penman,  and  an 
excellent  arithmetician,  only  he  cannot  multiply). 
For  outward  usage  there  is  all  industry  used  to 
give  the  Prince  and  his  servants  all  possible  con- 


224  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

tentment,  and  some  of  the  King's  own  servants 
wait  upon  them  at  table  in  the  palace,  where  I  am 
sorry  to  hear  some  of  them  jeer  at  the  Spanish 
fare,  and  use  other  slighting  speeches  and  demean- 
our. There  are  many  excellent  poems  made  here 
since  the  Prince's  arrival,  which  are  too  long  to 
couch  in  a  letter,  yet  I  will  venture  to  send  you 
this  one  stanza  of  Lope  de  Vega's  : 

Carlos  Estuardo  Soy 

Que  siendo  Amor  mi  guia 
Al  cielo  d'Espana  voy 

Per  ver  mi  Estrella  Maria. 

There  are  comedians  once  a  week  come  to  the 
palace,  where  under  a  great  canopy  the  Queen  and 
the  Infanta  sit  in  the  middle,  our  Prince  and  Don 
Carlos  on  the  Queen's  right  hand,  the  King  and 
the  little  cardinal  on  the  Infanta's  left  hand.  I 
have  seen  the  Prince  have  his  eyes  immovably 
fixed  upon  the  Infanta  half-an-hour  together  in  a 
thoughtful,  speculative  posture,  which  sure  would 
needs  be  tedious,  unless  affection  did  sweeten  it ; 
it  was  no  handsome  comparison  of  Olivares,  that 
he  watched  her  as  a  cat  doth  a  mouse.  Not  long 
since  the  Prince,  understanding  that  the  Infanta 
was  used  to  go  some  mornings  to  the  Casa  de 
Campo,  a  summer  house  the  King  hath  on  the  other 
side  the  river,  to  gather  May  dew,  he  did  rise  be- 
times and  went  thither,  taking  your  brother  with 
him.  They  were  let  into  the  house  and  into  the 
garden,  but  the  Infanta  was  in  the  orchard,  and 
there  being   a   high    partition  wall   between   and 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  225 

the  door  doubly  bolted,  the  Prince  got  on  the  top 
of  the  wall  and  sprang  down  a  great  height,  and 
so  made  towards  her;  but  she,  spying  him  first  of 
all  the  rest,  gave  a  shriek,  and  ran  back.  The  old 
marquis  that  was  then  her  guardian  came  towards 
the  Prince  and  fell  on  his  knees,  conjuring  His 
Highness  to  retire,  in  regard  he  hazarded  his  head 
it  he  admitted  any  to  her  company.  So  the  door 
was  opened,  and  he  came  out  under  that  wall  over 
which  he  had  got  in.  I  have  seen  him  watch  a 
long  hour  together  in  a  close  coach  in  the  open 
street  to  see  her  as  she  went  abroad.  I  cannot  sav 
that  the  Prince  did  ever  talk  with  her  privately, 
yet  publicly  often,  my  Lord  of  Bristol  being  in- 
terpreter, but  the  King  always  sat  hard  by  to  over- 
hear all.  Our  cousin  Archy  hath  more  privilege 
than  any,  for  he  often  goes  with  his  fool's  coat 
where  the  Intanta  is  with  her  meninas  and  ladies 
of  honour,  and  keeps  a-blowing  and  blustering 
amongst  them,  and  flurts  out  what  he  list. 

One  day  they  were  discoursing  what  a  marvel- 
lous thing  it  was  that  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  with 
less  than  15,000  men,  after  a  long  toilsome  march, 
should  dare  to  encounter  the  Palsgrave's  army 
consisting  of  above  25,000,  and  to  give  them 
an  utter  discomfiture,  and  take  Prague  presently 
after.  Whereunto  Archy  answered  that  he  would 
tell  them  a  stranger  thing  than  that.  Was  it  not 
a  strange  thing,  quoth  he,  that  in  the  year  '88 
there  should  come  a  fleet  of  140  sail  from  Spain 
to  invade   England,  and  that  ten  of  these  could 


226  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

not  go  back  to  tell  what  became  of  the  rest?  By 
the  next  opportunity  I  will  send  you  the  Cordo- 
van pockets  and  gloves  you  wrote  for  of  Fran- 
cesco Moreno's  perfuming.  —  So  may  my  dear 
captain  live  long  and  love  his  J.  H. 

Madrid,  July  lo,  1623. 

XIX 

T^5  my  cousin  Tho.   Guin,  Esq.,  at  his  house 
Trecastle 

Cousin, 

I  RECEIVED  lately  one  of  yours,  which  I  can- 
not compare  more  properly  than  to  a  posy  of 
curious  flowers,  there  was  therein  such  variety  of 
sweet  strains  and  dainty  expressions  of  love.  And 
though  it  bore  an  old  date,  for  it  was  forty  days 
before  it  came  to  safe  hand,  yet  the  flowers  were 
still  fresh,  and  not  a  whit  faded,  but  cast  as  strong 
and  as  fragrant  a  scent  as  when  your  hands  bound 
them  up  first  together,  only  there  was  one  flower 
that  did  not  savour  so  well,  which  was  the  unde- 
served character  you  please  to  give  of  my  small 
abilities,  which  in  regard  you  look  upon  me  through 
the  prospective  of  afi^ection,  appear  greater  unto 
you  than  they  are  of  themselves;  yet  as  small  as 
they  are,  I  would  be  glad  to  employ  them  all  to 
serve  you  upon  any  occasion. 

Whereas  you  desire  to  know  how  matters  pass 
here,  you  shall  understand  that  we  are  rather  in 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  227 

assurance  than  hopes  that  the  match  will  take 
effect,  when  one  despatch  more  is  brought  from 
Rome  which  we  greedily  expect.  The  Spaniards 
generally  desire  it.  They  are  much  taken  with 
our  Prince,  with  the  bravery  of  his  journey,  and 
his  discreet  comportment  since  ;  and  they  confess 
there  was  never  princess  courted  with  more  gal- 
lantry. The  wits  of  the  court  here  have  made 
divers  encomiums  of  him  and  of  his  affection  to 
the  Lady  Infanta.  Amongst  others  I  send  you 
a  Latin  poem  of  one  Marnierius,  a  Valencian,  to 
which  I  add  this  ensuing  hexastich,  which,  in  re- 
gard to  the  difficulty  of  the  verse,  consisting  of 
all  ternaries  (which  is  the  hardest  way  of  versify- 
ing), and  of  the  exactness  of  the  translation,  I  be- 
lieve will  give  you  content. 

Fax  grata  est,  gratum  est  vulnus,  mihi  grata  catena  est. 

Me  quibus  astringit,  laedit  &  urit  Amor  ; 

Sed  flammam  extingui,  sanari  vulnera,  solvi 

Vincla,  etiam  ut  possem  non  ego  posse  velim  : 

Mirum  equidem  genus  hoc  morbi  est,  incendia  &  ictus 

Vinclaque,  vinctus  adhuc,  laesus  &  ustus,  amo. 

Grateful  's  to  me  the  fire,  the  wound,  the  chain. 
By  which  love  burns,  love  binds  and  giveth  pain  ; 
But  for  to  quench  this  fire,  these  bonds  to  loose. 
These  wounds  to  heal,  I  would  not  could  I  choose  : 
Strange  sickness,  where  the  wounds,  the  bonds,  the  fire 
That  burns,  that  bind,  that  hurt,  I  must  desire. 

In  your  next  I  pray  send  me  your  opinion  of 
these  verses,  for  I  know  you  are  a  critic  in  poetry. 
iVlr  Vaughan  of  the  Golden  Grove  and  I  were  com- 


228  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

rades  and  bedfellows  here  many  months  together. 
His  father,  Sir  John  Vaughan,  the  Prince,  his 
controller,  is  lately  come  to  attend  his  master. 
My  Lord  of  Carlisle,  my  Lord  of  Holland,  my 
Lord  of  Rochfort,  my  Lord  of  Denbigh,  and 
divers  others  are  here,  so  that  we  have  a  very 
flourishing  court,  and  I  could  wish  you  were  here 
to  make  one  of  the  number.  So,  my  dear  cousin, 
1  wish  you  all  happiness,  and  our  noble  Prince  a 
safe  and  successful  return  to  England. —  Your  most 
affectionate  cousin, 

J.H. 

Madrid,  13  August  1623. 

XX 

To  my  Noble  Friend  Sir  'John  North 

THE  long  looked  for  dispensation  is  come 
from  Rome,  but  I  hear  it  is  clogged  with  new 
clauses  ;  and  one  is,  that  the  Pope,  who  allegetb 
that  the  only- aim  of  the  Apostolical  See  in  grant- 
ing this  dispensation  was  the  advantage  and  ease 
of  the  Catholics  in  the  King  of  Great  Britain's  do- 
minions, therefore  he  desired  a  valuable  caution  for 
the  performance  of  those  articles  which  were  stipu- 
lated in  their  favour.  This  hath  much  puzzled  the 
business,  and  Sir  Francis  Cottington  comes  now 
over  about  it.  Besides  there  is  some  distaste  taken 
at  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  here,  and  I  heard  this 
King  should  say  he  will  treat  no  more  with  him 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  229 

but  with  the  ambassadors,  who,  he  saith,  have 
a  more  plenary  commission,  and  understand  the 
business .  better.  As  there  is  some  darkness  hap- 
pened betwixt  the  two  favourites,  so  matters  stand 
not  right  betwixt  the  Duke  and  the  Earl  of 
Bristol ;  but  God  forbid  that  a  business  of  so  high 
a  consequence  as  this,  which  is  likely  to  tend  so 
much  to  the  universal  good  of  Christendom,  to  the 
restitution  of  the  Palatinate,  and  the  composing 
those  broils  in  Germany,  should  be  ranversed  by 
differences  betwixt  a  few  private  subjects,  though 
now  public  ministers. 

Mr  Washington,  the  Prince's  page,  is  lately  dead 
of  a  calenture  ;  and  I  was  at  his  burial  under  a  fig- 
tree  behind  my  Lord  of  Bristol's  house.  A  little 
before  his  death  one  Ballard,  an  English  priest, 
went  to  tamper  with  him,  and  Sir  Edmund  Varney, 
meeting  him  coming  down  the  stairs  out  of  Wash- 
ington's chamber,  they  fell  from  words  to  blows; 
but  they  were  parted.  The  business  was  like  to 
gather  very  ill  blood  and  come  to  a  great  height 
had  not  Count  Gondomar  quashed  it,  which  I  be- 
lieve he  could  not  have  done  unless  the  times  had 
been  favourable  ;  for  such  is  the  reverence  they 
bear  to  the  Church  here,  and  so  holy  a  conceit  they 
have  of  all  ecclesiastics,  that  the  greatest  don  in 
Spain  will  tremble  to  offer  the  meanest  of  them  any 
outrage  or  affront.  Count  Gondomar  hath  also 
helped  to  free  some  English  that  were  in  the 
Inquisition  in  Toledo  and  Seville,  and  I  could 
allege  manv  instances  how  ready  and  cheerful  he  is 


230  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

to  assist  any  Englishman  whatsoever,  notwithstand- 
ing the  base  affronts  he  hath  often  received  of  the 
London  boys  as  he  calls  them.  At  his  last  return 
hither,  I  heard  of  a  merry  saying  of  his  to  the 
Queen,  who  discoursing  with  him  about  the  great- 
ness of  London,  and  whether  it  was  as  populous  as 
Madrid  :  "Yes,  madam,  and  more  populous  when 
I  came  awav,  though  I  believe  there  is  scarce  a 
man  left  there  now,  but  all  women  and  children  ; 
for  all  the  men  both  in  court  and  city  were  ready 
booted  and  spurred  to  go  away."  And  I  am  sorry 
to  hear  how  other  nations  do  much  tax  the  English 
of  their  incivility  to  public  ministers  of  state,  and 
what  ballads  and  pasquils,  and  fopperies  and  plays 
were  made  against  Gondomar  for  doing  his  master's 
business.  My  Lord  of  Bristol  coming  from  Ger- 
many to  Brussels,  notwithstanding  that  at  his  arrival 
thither  the  news  was  fresh  that  he  had  relieved 
Frankindale  as  he  passed,  yet  was  he  not  a  whit 
the  less  welcome,  but  valued  the  more  both  by  the 
archduchess  herself  and  Spinola,  with  all  the  rest; 
as  also  that  they  knew  well  that  the  said  earl  had 
been  the  sole  adviser  of  keeping  Sir  Robert 
Mansell  abroad  with  that  fleet  upon  the  coast  of 
Spain  till  the  Palsgrave  should  be  restored.  I  pray, 
sir,  when  you  go  to  London  Wall  and  Tower 
Hill,  be  pleased  to  remember  my  humble  service, 
where  you  know  it  is  due.  —  So  I  am,  your  most 
faithful  servitor,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  August  15,  1623. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  231 


XXI 

To   the   right    honourable    the    Lord    Viscount 
Colchester 

My  very  good   Lord, 

I  RECEIVED  the  letter  and  commands  your 
lordship  pleased  to  send  me  by  Mr  Walsing- 
ham  Gresley,  and  touching  the  constitutions  and 
orders  of  the  contratation  house  of  the  West 
Indies  in  Seville,  I  cannot  procure  it  for  love  or 
money  upon  anv  terms,  though  I  have  done  all 
possible  diligence  therein.  And  some  tell  me  it  is 
dangerous,  and  no  less  than  treason  in  him  that 
gives  the  copy  of  them  to  any,  in  regard  it  is 
counted  the  greatest  mystery  of  all  the  Spanish 
government. 

That  difficulty  which  happened  in  the  business 
of  the  match  of  giving  caution  to  the  Pope  is  now 
overcome;  for  whereas  our  King  answered  that  he 
could  give  no  other  caution  than  his  royal  word 
and  his  son's  exemplified  under  the  great  seal  of 
England,  and  confirmed  by  his  Council  of  State, 
it  being  impossible  to  have  it  done  bv  Parliament, 
in  regard  of  the  averseness  the  common  people 
have  to  the  alliance;  and  whereas  this  gave  no 
satisfaction  to  Rome,  the  King  of  Spain  now  offers 
himself  for  caution,  for  putting  in  execution  what 
is  stipulated  in  behalf  of  the  Roman  Catholics 
throughout  His  Majesty  of  Great  Britain's  domin- 


23a  FAMILIAR   LETTERS 

ions  ;  but  he  desires  to  consult  his  ghostly  fathers 
to  know  whether  he  may  do  it  without  wronging 
his  conscience;  hereupon  there  hath  been  a  junta 
formed  of  bishops  and  Jesuits,  who  have  been 
already  a  good  while  about  it,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Segovia,  who  is,  as  it  were,  lord  treasurer,  having 
written  a  treatise  lately  against  the  match,  was 
ousted  of  his  office,  banished  the  court,  and  con- 
fined to  his  diocese.  The  Duke  of  Buckingham 
hath  been  ill  disposed  a  good  while,  and  lies  sick 
at  court,  where  the  Prince  hath  no  public  exercise 
of  devotion,  but  only  bedchamber  prayers,  and 
some  think  that  his  lodging  in  the  King's  house 
is  like  to  prove  a  disadvantage  to  the  main  busi- 
ness ;  for  whereas  most  sorts  of  people  here  hardly 
hold  us  to  be  Christians,  if  the  Prince  had  had 
a  palace  of  his  own,  and  been  permitted  to  have 
used  a  room  for  an  open  chapel  to  exercise  the 
liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England,  it  would  have 
brought  them  to  have  a  better  opinion  of  us  ;  and 
to  this  end  there  were  some  of  our  best  church 
plate  and  vestments  brought  hither  but  never 
used.  The  slow  pace  of  this  Junta  troubles  us  a 
little,  and  to  the  divines  there  are  some  civilians 
admitted  lately,  and  the  quaere  is  this,  whether 
the  King  of  Spain  may  bind  himself  by  oath 
in  the  behalf  of  the  King  of  England,  to  per- 
form such  and  such  articles  that  are  agreed  on 
in  favour  of  the  Roman  Catholics  by  virtue  of 
this  match,  whether  the  King  may  do  this  salva 
conscientia? 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  233 

There  was  a  great  show  lately  here  of  baiting 
of  bulls  with  men  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
Prince.  It  is  the  chiefest  of  all  Spanish  sports; 
commonly  there  are  men  killed  at  it,  therefore 
there  are  priests  appointed  to  be  there  ready  to 
confess  them.  It  hath  happened  oftentimes  that 
a  bull  hath  taken  up  two  men  upon  his  horns 
with  their  guts  dangling  about  them  ;  the  horse- 
men run  with  lances  and  swords,  the  foot  with 
goads.  As  I  am  told  the  Pope  hath  sent  divers 
Bulls  against  this  sport  of  bulling,  yet  it  will  not 
be  left,  the  nation  hath  taken  such  an  habitual 
delight  in  it.  There  was  an  ill-favoured  accident 
like  to  have  happened  lately  at  the  King's  house, 
in  that  part  where  my  Lord  of  Carlisle  and  my 
Lord  Denbigh  were  lodged  ;  for  my  Lord  Den- 
bigh, late  at  night  taking  a  pipe  of  tobacco  in 
a  balcony  which  hung  over  the  King's  garden,  he 
blew  down  the  ashes,  which  falling  upon  some 
parched  combustible  matter  began  to  flame  and 
spread,  but  Master  Davis,  my  Lord  of  Carlisle's 
barber,  leaped  down  a  great  height  and  quenched 
it.  So  with  continuance  of  my  most  humble 
service,  I  rest  ever  ready,  at  your  lordship's 
commands,       '  J.  H. 

Madrid,  August  16,  1623. 


234  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

XXII 

To  Sir  'James  Crofts^  from  Madrid 

THE  Court  of  Spain  affords  now  little  news  ; 
for  there  is  a  remora  sticks  to  the  business 
of  the  match,  till  the  Junta  of  divines  give  up 
their  opinion.  But  from  Turkey  there  came  a 
letter  this  week  wherein  there  is  the  strangest  and 
most  tragical  news,  that  in  my  small  reading  no 
story  can  parallel,  or  show  with  more  pregnancy 
the  instability  and  tottering  estate  of  human  great- 
ness, and  the  sandy  foundation  whereon  the  vast 
Ottoman  Empire  is  reared  upon,  for  Sultan  Osman, 
the  grand  Turk,  a  man  according  to  the  humour 
of  that  nation,  warlike  and  fleshed  in  blood  and 
a  violent  hater  of  Christians,  was,  in  the  flower  of 
his  years,  in  the  heat  and  height  of  his  courage, 
knocked  in  the  head  by  one  of  his  own  slaves, 
and  one  of  the  meanest  of  them,  with  a  battle-axe, 
and  the  murderer  never  after  proceeded  against  or 
questioned. 

The  ground  of  this  tragedy  was  the  late  ill-suc- 
cess he  had  against  the  Pole,,  wherein  he  lost  about 
100,000  horse  for  want  of  forage,  and  80,000  men 
for  want  of  fighting,  which  he  imputed  to  the 
cowardice  of  his  janizaries,  who  rather  than  bear 
the  brunt  of  the  battle,  were  more  willing  to  re- 
turn home  to  their  wives  and  merchandising, 
which  they  are  now  permitted  to  do  contrary  to 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  235 

their  first  institution,  which  makes  them  more 
worldly  and  less  venturous.  This  disgraceful  re- 
turn from  Poland  stuck  in  Osman's  stomach,  and 
so  he  studied  a  way  how  to  be  revenged  of  the 
janizaries.  Therefore,  by  the  advice  of  his  grand 
vizier  (a  stout  gallant  man  who  had  been  one  of 
the  chief  Beglerbegs  in  the  East),  he  intended  to 
erect  a  new  soldiery  in  Asia  about  Damascus,  of 
the  Kurds,  a  frontier  people,  and  consequently 
hardy  and  inured  to  arms.  Of  these  he  purposed 
to  entertain  40,000  as  a  lifeguard  for  his  person, 
though  the  main  design  was  to  suppress  his  lazy 
and  lustful  janizaries  with  men  of  fresh  new 
spirits. 

To  disguise  this  plot  he  pretended  a  pilgrimage 
to  Mecca,  to  visit  Mahomet's  tomb,  and  reconcile 
himself  to  the  prophet,  who  he  thought  was  angry 
with  him  because  of  his  late  ill-success  in  Poland. 
But  this  colour  was  not  specious  enough  in  regard 
he  might  have  performed  this  pilgrimage  with  a 
smaller  train  and  charge.  Therefore  it  was  pro- 
pounded that  the  Emir  of  Sidon  should  be  made 
to  rise  up  in  arms,  that  so  he  might  go  with  a 
greater  power  and  treasure.  But  this  plot  was  held 
disadvantageous  to  him  in  regard  his  janizaries 
must  then  have  attended  him.  So  he  pretends  and 
prepares  only  for  the  pilgrimage,  yet  he  makes 
ready  as  much  treasure  as  he  could  make,  and  to 
that  end  he  melts  his  plate,  and  furniture  of  horses, 
with  divers  church  lamps.  This  fomented  some 
jealousy  in  the  janizaries,  with  certain  words  which 


236  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

should  drop  from  him,  that  he  would  find  soldiers 
shortly  should  whip  them.  Hereupon  he  hath 
sent  over  to  Asia's  side  his  pavilions,  many  of  his 
servants,  with  his  jewels  and  treasure,  resolving 
upon  the  voyage,  notwithstanding  that  divers 
petitions  were  delivered  him  from  the  clergy,  the 
civil  magistrate  and  the  soldiery  that  he  should 
desist  from  the  voyage ;  but  all  would  not  do. 
Thereupon,  upon  the  point  of  his  departure,  the 
janizaries  and  spahies  came  in  a  tumultuary  manner 
to  the  seraglio,  and  in  a  high  insolent  language 
dissuaded  him  from  the  pilgrimage,  and  demanded 
of  him  his  ill  counsellors.  The  first  he  granted, 
but  for  the  second  he  said  that  it  stood  not  with 
his  honour  to  have  his  nearest  servants  torn  from 
him  so  without  any  legal  proceeding,  but  he 
assured  them  that  they  should  appear  in  the  divan 
the  next  day  to  answer  for  themselves  ;  but  this 
not  satisfying  they  went  away  in  a  fury  and  plun- 
dered the  grand  vizier's  palace  with  divers  others. 
Osman  hereupon  was  advised  to  go  from  his  pri- 
vate gardens  that  night  to  the  Asian  shore,  but 
his  destiny  kept  him  from  it.  So  the  next  morn- 
ing they  came  armed  to  the  Court  (but  having 
made  a  covenant  not  to  violate  the  imperial  throne) 
and  cut  in  pieces  the  grand  vizier  with  divers 
other  great  officers,  and  not  finding  Osman,  who 
had  hid  himself  in  a  small  lodge  in  one  of  his 
gardens,  they  cried  out  they  must  have  a  Mussul- 
man Emperor.  Therefore  they  broke  into  a  dun- 
geon and  brought  out  Mustapha,  Osman's  uncle, 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  237 

whom  he  had  clapt  there  at  the  beginning  of  the 
tumult,  and  who  had  been  king  before,  but  was 
deposed  tor  his  simpHcitv,  being  a  kind  of  santon 
or  holy  man,  that  is,  betwixt  an  innocent  and  an 
idiot.  This  Mustapha  they  did  reinthronise  and 
place  in  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

The  next  day  they  found  out  Osman,  and 
brought  him  before  Mustapha,  who  excused  him- 
self with  tears  in  his  eyes  for  his  rash  attempts, 
which  wrought  tenderness  in  some,  but  more 
scorn  and  fury  in  others,  who  fell  upon  the  capi 
aga^  with  other  officers,  and  cut  them  in  pieces 
before  his  eyes.  Osman  thence  was  carried  to 
prison,  and  as  he  was  getting  on  horseback  a  com- 
mon soldier  took  off  his  turban  and  clapt  his 
upon  Osman's  head,  who  in  his  passage  begged  a 
draught  of  water  at  a  fountain.  The  next  day  the 
new  vizier  went  with  an  executioner  to  strangle 
him  in  regard  there  were  two  younger  brothers 
more  of  his  to  preserve  the  Ottoman's  race,  where, 
after  thev  had  rushed  in,  he  being  newly  awaked 
and  staring  upon  them,  and  thinking  to  defend 
himself,  a  robust  boisterous  rogue  knocked  him 
down,  and  so  the  rest  fell  upon  him  and  strangled 
him  with  much  ado. 

Thus  fell  one  of  the  greatest  potentates  upon 
earth  by  the  hands  of  a  contemptible  slave,  for 
there  is  not  a  free-born  subject  in  all  that  vast 
empire.  Thus  fell  he  that  entitles  himself  most 
puissant  and  highest  monarch  of  the  Turks,  king 
above  all   kings,  a   king  that  dwelleth  upon  the 


238  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

earthly  paradise,  son  of  Mahomet,  keeper  of  the 
grave  of  the  Christian  God,  Lord  of  the  Tree  of 
Life  and  of  the  river  Flisky,  prior  of  the  Earthly 
Paradise,  conqueror  of  the  Macedonians,  the  seed 
of  great  Alexander,  Prince  of  the  kingdoms  of 
Tartary,  Mesopotamia,  Media  and  of  the  Martial 
Mammalucks,  Anatolia,  Bithynia,  Asia,  Arme- 
nia, Servia,  Thracia,  Morea,  Valachia,  Moldavia, 
and  of  all  warlike  Hungary,  Sovereign  Lord  and 
Commander  of  all  Greece,  Persia,  both  the  Arabias, 
the  most  noble  kingdom  of  Egypt,  Tremisen  and 
African,  Emperor  of  Trebisond  and  the  most  glori- 
ous Constantinople,  lord  of  all  the  White  and 
Black  Seas,  of  the  holy  cities  Mecca  and  Medina, 
shining  with  divine  glory,  commander  of  all  things 
that  are  to  be  commanded,  and  the  strongest  and 
mightiest  champion  of  the  wide  world,  a  warrior 
appointed  by  heaven  in  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
a  persecutor  of  his  enemies,  a  most  perfect  jewel 
of  the  blessed  tree,  the  chiefest  keeper  of  the  cruci- 
fied God,  etc.,  with  other  such  bombastical 
titles. 

This  Osman  was  a  man  of  goodly  constitution, 
an  amiable  aspect,  and  of  excess  of  courage,  but 
sordidly  covetous,  which  drove  him  to  violate  the 
church  and  to  melt  the  lamps  thereof,  which  made 
the  Mufti  say  that  this  was  a  due  judgment  fallen 
upon  him  from  heaven  for  his  sacrilege.  He  used 
also  to  make  his  person  too  cheap,  for  he  would 
go  ordinarily  in  the  night  time  with  two  men  after 
him  like  a  petty  constable  and  peep  into  the  cauph- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  239 

houses  and  cabarets  and  apprehend  soldiers  there. 
And  these  two  things  it  seems  was  the  cause,  that 
when  he  was  so  assaulted  in  the  Seraglio,  not  one 
of  his  domestic  servants,  whereof  he  had  3000, 
would  lift  an  arm  to  help  him. 

Some  few  days  before  his  death  he  had  a  strange 
dream,  for  he  dreamt  that  he  was  mounted  upon 
a  great  camel,  who  would  not  go  neither  by  fair  nor 
foul  means,  and  alighting  off  him  and  thinking  to 
strike  him  with  his  scimitar,  the  body  of  the  beast 
vanished,  leaving  the  head  and  the  bridle  only  in 
his  hands.  When  the  Mufti  and  the  Hoggies 
could  not  interpret  this  dream,  Mustapha,  his 
uncle,  did  it,  for  he  said  the  camel  signified  his 
empire,  his  mounting  of  him  his  excess  in  govern- 
ment, his  alighting  down  his  deposing.  Another 
kind  of  prophetic  speech  dropped  from  the  grand 
vizier  to  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  our  ambassador  there, 
who  having  gone  a  little  before  this  tragedy  to 
visit  the  said  vizier,  told  him  what  whisperings 
and  mutterings  there  were  in  every  corner  for  this 
Asiatic  voyage,  and  what  ill  consequences  might 
ensue  from  it,  therefore  it  might  well  stand  with 
his  great  wisdom  to  stay  it ;  but  if  it  held  he  de- 
sired him  to  leave  a  charge  with  the  Chimacham, 
his  deputy,  that  the  English  nation  in  the  port 
should  be  free  from  outrages,  whereunto  the  grand 
vizier  answered,  "  Trouble  not  yourself  about  that, 
for  I  will  not  remove  so  far  from  Constantinople, 
but  I  will  leave  one  of  my  legs  behind  to  serve 
you,"  which  proved  too  true,  for  he  was  murdered 


240  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

afterwards  and  one  of  his  legs  was  hung  up  in  the 
hippodrome. 

This  fresh  tragedy  makes  me  to  give  over  won- 
dering at  anything  that  ever  I  heard  or  read,  to 
show  the  lubricity  of  mundane  greatness,  as  also 
the  fury  of  the  vulgar,  which,  like  an  impetuous 
torrent,  gathereth  strength  by  degrees  as  it  meets 
with  divers  dams,  and  being  come  to  the  height, 
cannot  stop  itself;  for  when  this  rage  of  the  soldiers 
began  first  there  was  no  design  at  all  to  violate  or 
hurt  the  Emperor,  but  to  take  from  him  his  ill 
counsellors ;  but  being  once  afoot,  it  grew  by 
insensible  degrees  to  the  utmost  of  outrages. 

The  bringing  out  of  Mustapha  from  the  dun- 
geon, where  he  was  prisoner,  to  be  Emperor  of  the 
Musulmans,  puts  me  in  mind  of  what  I  read  in 
Mr  Camden  of  our  late  Queen  Elizabeth,  how 
she  was  brought  from  the  scaffold  to  the  English 
throne. 

They  who  profess  to  be  critics  in  policy  here 
hope  that  this  murdering  of  Osman  may  in  time 
breed  good  blood,  and  prove  advantageous  to 
Christendom,  for  though  this  be  the  first  emperor 
of  the  Turks  that  was  dispatched  so,  he  is  not  like 
to  be  the  last,  now  that  the  soldiers  have  this  pre- 
cedent. Others  think  that  if  that  design  in  Asia 
had  taken,  it  had  been  very  probable  the  Con- 
stantinopolians  had  hoisted  up  another  king,  and 
so  the  empire  had  been  dismembered,  and  by 
this  division  had  lost  strength,  as  the  Roman  Em- 
pire did,  when  it  was  broken  into  east  and  west. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  241 

Excuse  me  that  this  my  letter  is  become  such 
a  monster.  I  mean  that  it  hath  passed  the  size 
and  ordinary  proportions  of  a  letter,  for  the  matter 
it  treats  of  is  monstrous  ;  besides,  it  is  a  rule  that 
historical  letters  have  more  liberty  to  be  long  than 
others.  In  my  next  you  shall  hear  how  matters 
pass  here.  And  in  the  meantime  and  always,  I  rest 
vour  lordship's  most  devoted  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Madrid,  August  17,  1623. 

XXIII 

To   the   Right   Honourable  Sir  Tho.  Savage , 
Knight  and  Baronet 

Honourable  Sir, 

THE  procedure  of  things  in  relation  to  the 
grand  business  of  the  match  was  at  a  kind  of 
stand  when  the  long-winded  Junta  delivered  their 
opinions  and  fell  at  last  upon  this  result,  that 
His  Catholic  Majesty,  for  the  satisfaction  of 
Saint  Peter,  might  oblige  himself  in  the  behalf  of 
England,  for  the  performance  of  those  capitulations 
which  reflected  upon  the  Roman  Catholics  in  that 
kingdom  ;  and  in  case  of  non-performance,  then 
to  right  himself  by  war;  since  that,  the  matri- 
monial articles  were  solemnly  sworn  unto  by  the 
King  of  Spain  and  His  Highness,  the  two  favour- 
ites, our  two  ambassadors,  the  Duke  of  Infantado 
and  other  counsellors  of  state  being  present ;  here- 


242  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

upon  the  eighth  of  the  next  September  is  appointed 
to  be  the  day  of  Desposorios,  the  day  of  affiance, 
or  the  betrothing  day.  There  was  much  gladness 
expressed  here,  and  luminaries  of  joy  were  in  every 
great  street  throughout  the  city.  But  there  is  an 
unlucky  accident  hath  intervened,  for  the  King 
gave  the  Prince  a  solemn  visit  since,  and  told  him 
Pope  Gregory  was  dead,  who  was  so  great  a  friend 
to  the  match,  but  in  regard  the  business  was  not 
yet  come  to  perfection,  he  could  not  proceed 
further  in  it  till  the  former  dispensation  were  rati- 
fied by  the  new  Pope  Urban,  which  to  procure  he 
would  make  it  his  own  task,  and  that  all  possible 
expedition  should  be  used  in  it,  and  therefore 
desired  his  patience  in  the  interim.  The  Prince 
answered,  and  pressed  the  necessity  of  his  speedy 
return  with  divers  reasons.  He  said  there  was  a 
general  kind  of  murmuring  in  England  for  his  so 
long  absence,  that  the  King  his  father  was  old  and 
sickly,  that  the  fleet  of  ships  were  all  ready,  he 
thought,  at  sea,  to  fetch  him,  the  winter  drew  on, 
and  withal  that  the  articles  of  the  match  were 
signed  in  England,  with  this  proviso,  that  if  he  be 
not  come  back  by  such  a  month,  thev  should  be  of 
no  validity.  The  King  replied  that,  since  His  High- 
ness was  resolved  upon  so  sudden  a  departure,  he 
would  please  to  leave  a  proxy  behind  to  finish  the 
marriage,  and  he  would  take  it  for  a  favour  if  he 
would  depute  him  to  personate  him,  and  ten  days 
after  the  ratification  shall  come  from  Rome  the 
business  shall  be  done,  and  afterwards  he  might 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  243 

send  for  his  wife  when  he  pleased.  The  Prince 
rejoined  that  amongst  those  multitudes  of  royal 
favours  which  he  had  received  from  His  Majesty, 
this  transcended  all  the  rest,  therefore  he  would 
willingly  leave  a  proxy  for  His  Majesty  and  an- 
other for  Don  Carlos  to  this  effect.  So  they  parted 
for  that  time  without  the  least  umbrage  of  discon- 
tent, nor  do  I  hear  of  any  engendered  since.  The 
last  month,  it  is  true,  the  Junta  of  divines  dwelt  so 
long  upon  the  business  that  there  were  whisperings 
that  the  Prince  intended  to  go  away  disguised  as 
he  came,  and  the  question  being  asked  by  a  person 
of  qualitv,  there  was  a  brave  answer  made,  that  if 
love  brought  him  hither,  it  is  not  fear  shall  drive 
him  awav. 

There  are  preparations  already  on  foot  for  his 
return,  and  the  two  proxies  are  drawn  and  left  in 
my  Lord  of  Bristol's  hands.  Notwithstanding 
this  ill-favoured  stop,  yet  we  are  here  all  confident 
the  business  will  take  effect.  In  which  hopes  I 
rest  your  most  humble  and  ready  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Madrid,  18  August  1623. 

XXIV 

To  Captain  Nich.  Leaf  at  his  House  in  London 

THIS   letter  comes  to  you    by  Mr  Richard 
Altham,  of  whose  sudden  departure  hence 
I   am  very  sorry,  it  being  the   late  death   of  his 


244  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

brother  Sir  James  Altham.  I  have  been  at  a  stand 
in  the  business  a  good  while,  for  His  Highness 
coming  hither  was  no  advantage  to  me  in  the  earth. 
He  hath  done  the  Spaniards  divers  courtesies,  but 
he  hath  been  very  sparing  in  doing  the  EngHsh 
any.  It  may  be  perhaps  because  it  may  be  a  dim- 
inution of  honour  to  be  beholding  to  any  foreign 
prince  to  do  his  own  subjects  favours,  but  my 
business  requires  no  favour  —  all  I  desire  is  justice, 
which  I  have  not  obtained  yet  in  reality. 

The  Prince  is  preparing  for  his  journey.  I  shall 
to  it  again  closely  when  he  is  gone,  and  make 
a  shaft  or  a  bolt  of  it.  The  Pope's  death  hath 
retarded  the  proceedings  of  the  match,  but  we  are 
so  far  from  despairing  of  it  that  one  may  have 
wagers  thirty  to  one  it  will  take  effect  still.  He 
that  deals  with  this  nation  must  have  a  great  deal 
of  phlegm,  and  if  this  grand  business  of  state,  the 
match,  suffer  such  protractions  and  puttings  off, 
you  need  not  wonder  that  private  negotiations,  as 
mine  is,  should  be  subject  to  the  same  inconven- 
iences. There  shall  be  no  means  left  unattempted 
that  my  best  industry  can  find  out  to  put  a  period 
to  it,  and  when  His  Highness  is  gone  I  hope  to 
find  my  Lord  of  Bristol  more  at  leisure  to  con- 
tinue his  favour  and  furtherance,  which  hath  been 
much  already.  —  So   I   rest  yours  ready  to  serve 

you,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  August  19,  1623. 


OF   JAMES    HOWELL  245 

XXV 

To  Sir  'James  Crofts 

THE  Prince  is  now  upon  his  journey  to  the 
seaside,  where  my  Lord  of  Rutland  attends 
for  him  with  a  royal  fleet.  There  are  many  here 
shrink  in  their  shoulders,  and  are  very  sensible 
of  his  departure,  and  the  Lady  Infanta  resents 
it  more  than  any.  She  hath  caused  a  Mass  to 
be  sung  every  day  ever  since  for  his  good  voyage. 
The  Spaniards  themselves  confess  there  was  never 
princess  so  bravely  wooed.  The  King  and  his  two 
brothers  accompanied  His  Highness  to  the  Escu- 
rial  some  twenty  miles  off,  and  would  have  brought 
him  to  the  seaside,  but  that  the  Queen  is  big  and 
hath  not  many  days  to  go.  When  the  King  and 
he  parted,  there  passed  wonderful  great  endear- 
ments and  embraces  in  divers  postures  between 
them  a  long  time  ;  and  in  that  place  there  is  a 
pillar  to  be  erected  as  a  monument  to  posterity. 
There  are  some  grandees,  and  Count  Gondomar, 
with  a  great  train  besides,  gone  with  him  to  the 
marine,  to  the  seaside,  which  will  be  many  days' 
journey,  and  must  needs  put  the  King  of  Spain 
to  a  mighty  expense,  besides  his  seven  months' 
entertainment  here.  We  hear  that  when  he  passed 
through  Valladolid,  the  Duke  of  Lerma  was  retired 
thence  for  the  time  by  special  command  from  the 
King,  lest  he  might  have  discourse  with  the  Prince, 


^46  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

whom  he  extremely  desired  to  see.  This  sunk 
deep  into  the  old  duke,  insomuch  that  he  said, 
that  of  all  the  acts  of  malice  which  Olivares  had 
ever  done  him,  he  resented  this  more  than  any. 
He  bears  up  yet  very  well  under  his  cardinal's 
habit,  which  hath  kept  him  from  many  a  foul 
storm  that  might  have  fallen  upon  him  else  from 
the  temporal  power.  The  Duke  of  Uzeda,  his 
son,  finding  himself  decline  in  favour  at  court,  had 
retired  to  the  country,  and  died  soon  after  of  dis- 
contentment. During  his  sickness  the  cardinal 
wrote  this  short  weighty  letter  unto  him :  "  Dizen 
me,  que  mareys  de  necio;  por  mi,  mas  temo  mis 
anos  que  mis  enemigos. —  Lerma."  I  shall  not 
need  to  English  it  to  you,  who  is  so  great  a  master 
of  the  language.  Since  I  began  this  letter,  we  under- 
stand the  Prince  is  safely  embarked,  but  not  with- 
out some  danger  of  being  cast  away,  had  not  Sir 
Sackville  Trevor  taken  him  up.  I  pray  God  send 
him  a  good  voyage,  and  us  no  ill  news  from  Eng- 
land. My  most,  humble  service  at  Tower  Hill. 
So  I  am  your  humble  servitor, 

J.  H. 
Madrid,  August  21,  1623. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  247 

XXVI 

To  ?}iy  Brother,  Dr  Howell 

My  Brother, 

SINCE  our  Prince's  departure  hence,  the  Lady 
Infanta  studieth  English  apace,  and  one  Mr 
Wadsworth  and  Father  Boniface,  two  Englishmen, 
are  appointed  her  teachers,  and  have  access  to  her 
every  day.  We  account  her,  as  it  were,  our  Prin- 
cess now,  and  as  we  give,  so  she  takes  that  title. 
Our  ambassadors,  my  Lord  of  Bristol  and  Sir 
Walter  Ashton,  will  not  stand  now  covered  before 
her  when  they  have  audience,  because  they  hold 
her  to  be  their  Princess.  She  is  preparing  divers 
suits  of  rich  clothes  for  His  Highness  of  perfumed 
amber  leather,  some  embroidered  with  pearl,  some 
with  gold,  some  with  silver!  Her  family  is  a-set- 
tling  apace,  and  most  of  her  ladies  and  officers  are 
known  already.  We  want  nothing  now  but  one 
dispatch  more  from  Rome,  and  then  the  marriage 
will  be  solemnised,  and  all  things  consummated. 
Yet  there  is  one  Mr  Clerk  (with  the  lame  arm) 
that  came  hither  from  the  seaside,  as  soon  as  the 
Prince  was  gone;  he  is  one  of  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham's creatures,  yet  he  lies  at  the  Earl  of  Bris- 
tol's house,  which  we  wonder  at,  considering  the 
darkness  that  happened  betwixt  the  duke  and  the 
earl.  We  fear  that  this  Clerk  hath  brought  some- 
thing   that    may    puzzle    the    business.     Besides 


248  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

having  occasion  to  make  my  address  lately  to  the 
Venetian  ambassador,  who  is  interested  in  some 
part  of  that  great  business  for  which  I  am  here,  he 
told  me  confidently  it  would  be  no  match,  nor  did 
he  think  it  was  ever  intended;  But  I  want  faith 
to  believe  him  yet,  for  I  know  St  Mark  is  no 
friend  to  it,  nor  France,  nor  any  other  prince  or 
state,  besides  the  King  of  Denmark,  whose  grand- 
mother was  of  the  house  of  Austria,  being  sister 
to  Charles  the  Emperor.  Touching  the  business 
of  the  Palatinate,  our  ambassadors  were  lately 
assured  by  Olivares  and  all  the  counsellors  here, 
and  that  in  this  King's  name,  that  he  would  pro- 
cure His  Majesty  of  Great  Britain  entire  satis- 
faction herein;  and  Olivares,  giving  them  the  joy, 
entreated  them  to  assure  their  King  upon  their 
honour,  and  upon  their  lives,  of  the  reality  hereof. 
For  the  Infanta  herself  (saith  he)  hath  stirred  in 
it,  and  makes  it  now  her  own  business;  for  it 
was  a  firm  peace  and  amity  (which  he  confessed 
could  never  be  without  the  accommodation  of 
things  in  Germany)  as  much  as  an  aUiance, 
which  His  Catholic  Majesty  aimed  at.  But  we 
shall  know  shortly  now  what  to  trust  to,  we  shall 
walk  no  more  in  mists,  though  some  give  out 
yet  that  our  Prince  shall  embrace  a  cloud  for  Juno 
at  last. 

I  pray  present  my  service  to  Sir  John  Franklin 
and  Sir  John  Smith,  with  all  at  the  Hill  and  Dale, 
and  when  you  send  to  Wales,  I  pray  convey  the 
enclosed  to  my  father.    So,  my  dear  brother,  I  pray 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  249 

God  bless  us  both,  and  bring  us  again  joyfully 
together.  —  Your  very  loving  brother,     J.  H. 
Madrid,  August  12,  1623. 

XXVII 

To  ?ny  noble  friend^  Sir  'John  Norths  Knight 

I  RECEIVED  lately  one  of  yours,  but  it  was  of 
a  very  old  date.  We  have  our  eyes  here  now 
all  fixed  upon  Rome,  greedily  expecting  the  ratifi- 
cation, and  lately  a  strong  rumour  ran  it  was  come. 
In  so  much  that  Mr  Clerk,  who  was  sent  hither 
from  the  Prince,  being  a  shipboard  (and  now  lies 
sick  at  my  Lord  of  Bristol's  house  of  a  calenture), 
hearing  of  it,  he  desired  to  speak  with  him,  for  he 
had  something  to  deliver  him  from  the  Prince.  My 
Lord  Ambassador  being  come  to  him,  Mr  Clerk 
delivered  a  letter  from  the  Prince,  the  contents 
whereof  were  :  That  whereas  he  had  left  certain 
proxies  in  his  hand  to  be  delivered  to  the  King 
of  Spain  after  the  ratification  was  come,  he  desired 
and  required  him  not  to  do  it  till  he  should  receive 
further  order  from  England.  My  Lord  of  Bristol 
hereupon  went  to  Sir  Walter  Aston,  who  was  in 
joint  commission  with  him  for  concluding  the 
match,  and  showing  him  the  letter,  what  my  Lord 
Aston  said  I  know  not,  but  my  Lord  of  Bristol 
told  him  that  they  had  a  commission  royal  under 
the  broad  seal  of  England  to  conclude  the  match. 
He  knew  as  well  as  he  how  earnest  the  King  their 


050  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

master  hath  been  any  time  this  ten  years  to  have  it 
done.  How  there  could  not  be  a  better  pawn  for  the 
surrendry  of  the  Palatinate  than  the  Infanta  in  the 
Prince  his  arms,  who  could  never  rest  till  she  did 
the  work  to  merit  love  of  our  nation.  He  told 
him  also  how  their  own  particular  fortunes  de- 
pended upon  it ;  besides,  if  he  should  delay  one 
moment  to  deliver  the  proxy  after  the  ratification 
was  come,  according  to  agreement,  the  Infanta 
would  hold  herself  so  blemished  in  her  honour 
that  it  might  overthrow  all  things.  Lastly,  he  told 
him  that  they  incurred  the  hazard  of  their  heads 
if  they  should  suspend  the  executing  His  Majes- 
ty's commission  upon  any  order  but  from  that 
power  which  gave  it,  who  was  the  King  himself. 
Hereupon  both  the  ambassadors  proceeded  still 
in  preparing  matters  for  the  solemnising  of  the 
marriage.  The  Earl  of  Bristol  had  caused  above 
thirty  rich  liveries  to  be  made  of  watchet  velvet, 
with  silver  lace  up  to  the  very  capes  of  the  cloaks  ; 
the  best  sorts  whereof  were  valued  at  ^^80  a  livery. 
My  Lord  Aston  had  also  provided  new  liveries, 
and  a  fortnight  after  the  said  politic  report  was 
blown  up  the  ratification  came  indeed  complete 
and  full.  So  the  marriage  day  was  appointed,  a 
terrace  covered  all  over  with  tapestry  was  raised 
from  the  King's  palace  to  the  next  church,  which 
might  be  about  the  same  extent  as  from  Whitehall 
to  Westminster  Abbey,  and  the  King  intended  to 
make  his  sister  a  wife  and  his  daughter  (whereof 
the  Queen  was  delivered  a  little  before)  a  Christian 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  251 

upon  the  same  day.  The  grandees  and  great  ladies 
had  been  invited  to  the  marriage,  and  order  was 
sent  to  all  the  port  towns  to  discharge  their  great 
ordnance,  and  sundry  other  things  were  prepared 
to  honour  the  solemnity;  but  when  we  were  thus 
at  the  height  of  our  hopes,  a  day  or  two  before, 
there  came  Mr  Killegree,  Gresly,  Wood  and 
Davies,  one  upon  the  neck  of  another  with  a  new 
commission  to  my  Lord  of  Bristol  immediately 
from  His  Majesty,  countermanding  him  to  deliver 
the  proxy  aforesaid,  until  a  full  and  absolute  satis- 
faction were  had  for  the  surrender  of  the  Palatinate 
under  this  King's  hand  and  seal.  In  regard  he 
desired  his  son  should  be  married  to  Spain,  and 
his  son-in-law  remarried  to  the  Palatinate  at  one 
time.  Hereupon  all  was  dashed  in  pieces,  and  that 
frame  which  was  rearing  so  many  years  was  ruined 
in  a  moment.  This  news  struck  a  damp  in  the 
hearts  of  all  people  here,  and  they  wished  that 
the  postillions  that  brought  it  had  all  broke  their 
necks  on  the  way. 

My  Lord  of  Bristol  hereupon  went  to  court  to 
acquaint  the  King  with  his  new  commission,  and  so 
proposed  the  restitution  of  the  Palatinate.  The 
King  answ^ered  it  was  none  of  his  to  give.  It  is 
true  he  had  a  few  towns  there,  but  he  held  them  as 
commissioner  only  for  the  Emperor,  and  he  could 
not  command  an  Emperor ;  yet  if  His  Majesty  of 
Great  Britain  would  put  a  treaty  a  foot,  he  would 
send  his  own  ambassadors  to  join.  In  the  interim 
the  earl  was  commanded  not  to  deliver  the  afore- 


252  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

said  proxy  of  the  Prince  for  the  disponsories  or 
espousal  until  Christmas  (and  herein  it  seems  His 
Majesty  with  you  was  not  well  informed,  for  those 
powers  of  proxies  expired  jDefore).  The  King  here 
said  further  that  if  his  uncle  the  Emperor,  or  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  would  not  be  conformable  to 
reason  he  would  raise  as  great  an  army  for  the 
Prince  Palsgrave  as  he  did  under  Spinola  when  he 
first  invaded  the  Palatinate  ;  and  to  secure  this  he 
would  engage  his  contratation  house  of  the  West 
Indies,  with  his  Plate  fleet,  and  give  the  most  bind- 
ing instrument  that  could  be  under  his  hand  and 
seal.  But  this  gave  no  satisfaction,  therefore  my 
Lord  of  Bristol,  I  believe,  hath  not  long  to  stay 
here,  for  he  is  commanded  to  deliver  no  more  let- 
ters to  the  Infanta  nor  demand  any  more  audience, 
and  that  she  should  be  no  more  styled  Princess 
of  England  or  Wales.  The  foresaid  caution  which 
this  King  offered  to  my  Lord  of  Bristol  made  me 
think  of  what  I  read  of  his  grandfather  Philip  the 
Second,  who  having  been  married  to  our  Queen 
Mary,  and  it  being  thought  she  was  with  child 
of  him,  and  was  accordingly  prayed  for  at  Paul's 
Cross,  though  it  proved  afterwards  but  a  tympany. 
King  Philip  proposed  to  our  Parliament  that  they 
would  pass  an  act  that  he  might  be  regent  during 
his  or  her  minority  that  should  be  born,  and  he 
would  give  good  caution  to  surrender  the  crown, 
when  he  or  she  should  come  to  age  ;  the  motion 
was  hotly  canvassed  in  the  House  of  Peers,  and  like 
to  pass,  when  the  Lord  Paget  rose  up  and  said, 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  253. 

"Aye,  but  who  shall  sue  the  King's  bond,"  so  the 
business  was  dashed.  I  have  no  more  news  to  send 
you  now,  and  I  am  sorry  I  have  so  much,  unless 
it  were  better;  for  we  that  have  business  to  nego- 
tiate here  are  like  to  suffer  much  by  this  rupture. 
Welcome  be  the  will  of  God,  to  whose  benedic- 
tion 1  commend  you,  and  rest,  your  most  humble 
servitor,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  August  25,  1623. 


XXVIII 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  Clifford 

My  good  Lord, 

THOUGH  this  court  cannot  afford  now  such 
comfortable  news  in  relation  to  England  as 
I  could  wish,  yet  such  as  it  is  you  shall  receive. 
My  Lord  of  Bristol  is  preparing  for  England.  I 
waited  upon  him  lately  when  he  went  to  take  his 
leave  at  court,  and  the  King  washing  his  hands  took 
a  ring  from  off  his  finger  and  put  it  upon  his, 
which  was  the  greatest  honour  that  ever  he  did  any 
ambassador,  as  they  say  here;  he  gave  him  also 
a  cupboard  of  plate,  valued  at  20,000  crowns. 
There  were  also  large  and  high  promises  made  him, 
that  in  case  he  feared  to  fall  upon  any  rock  in  Eng- 
land, by  reason  of  the  power  of  those  who  ma- 
ligned him,  if  he  would  stay  in  any  of  his  domin- 
ions, he  would  give  him  means  and  honour  equal 


254  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

to  the  highest  of  his  enemies.  The  earl  did  not 
only  waive  but  disdained  these  propositions  made 
unto  him  by  Olivares,  and  said  he  was  so  confident 
of  the  King,  his  master's  justice  and  high  judg- 
ment, and  of  his  own  innocency,  that  he  conceived 
no  power  could  be  able  to  do  him  hurt.  There  hath 
occurred  nothing  lately  in  this  court  worth  the 
advertisement.  They  speak  much  of  the  strange 
carriage  of  that  boisterous  Bishop  of  Halverstadt 
(for  so  they  term  him  here),  that  having  taken 
a  place  where  there  were  two  monasteries  of  nuns 
and  friars,  he  caused  divers  feather-beds  to  be 
ripped  and  all  the  feathers  to  be  thrown  in  a  great 
hall,  whither  the  nuns  and  friars  were  thrust  naked 
with  their  bodies  oiled  and  pitched,  and  to  tumble 
among  these  feathers,  which  makes  them  here 
presage  him  an  ill  death.  So  I  most  affectionately 
kiss  your  hands,  and  rest,  your  very  humble 
servitor,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  August  26,  1623. 


XXIX 

To  Sir  'John  North 

I  HAVE  many  thanks  to  renderyou  for  the  favour 
you  lately  did  to  a  kinsman  of  mine,  Mr 
Vaughan,  and  for  divers  other  which  I  defer  till 
I  return  to  that  court,  and  that  I  hope  will  not  be 
long.  Touching  the  procedure  of  matters  here, 
you  shall  understand,  that  my  Lord  Aston  had 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  255 

special  audience  lately  of  the  King  of  Spain,  and 
afterwards  presented  a  memorial  wherein  there  was 
a  high  complaint  against  the  miscarriage  of  the 
two  Spanish  ambassadors  now  in  England,  the 
Marquis  of  Inojosa  and  Don  Carlos  Coloma.  The 
substance  of  it  was,  that  the  said  ambassadors  in  a 
private  audience  His  Majesty  of  Great  Britain  had 
given  them,  informed  him  of  a  pernicious  plot 
against  his  person  and  royal  authority,  which  was, 
that  at  the  beginning  of  vour  now  parliament,  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  with  other  his  accomplices, 
often  met  and  consulted  in  a  clandestine  way  how 
to  break  the  treaty  both  of  match  and  Palatinate. 
And  in  case  His  Majesty  was  unwilling  thereunto, 
he  should  have  a  country  house  or  two  to  retire 
unto  for  his  recreation  and  health,  in  regard  the 
Prince  is  now  of  years  and  judgment  fit  to  govern. 
His  Majesty  so  resented  this,  that  the  next  day  he 
sent  them  many  thanks  for  the  care  they  had  of 
him,  and  desired  them  to  perfect  the  work,  and 
now  that  they  had  detected  the  treason,  to  discover 
also  the  traitors  ;  but  they  were  shy  in  that  point. 
The  King  senf  again,  desiring  them  to  send  him 
the  names  of  the  conspirators  in  a  paper,  sealed  up 
by  one  of  their  own  confidants,  which  he  would 
receive  with  his  own  hands,  and  no  soul  should  see 
it  else  ;  advising  them  withal,  that  they  should  not 
prefer  this  discovery  before  their  own  honours,  to 
be  accounted  false  accusers.  They  replied  that  they 
had  done  enough  already  by  instancing  in  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  it  might  easily  be  guessed 


256  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

who  were  his  confidants  and  creatures.  Hereupon 
His  Majesty  put  those  whom  he  had  any  grounds 
to  suspect  to  their  oaths ;  and  afterward  sent  my 
Lord  Conway  and  Sir  Francis  Cottington  to  tell  the 
ambassadors  that  he  had  left  no  means  unassayed 
to  discover  the  conspiration,  that  he  had  found 
upon  oath  such  a  clearness  of  ingenuity  in  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham  that  satisfied  him  of  his  in- 
nocency.  Therefore  he  had  just  cause  to  conceive 
that  this  information  of  theirs  proceeded  rather 
from  malice  and  some  political  ends  than  from 
truth,  and  in  regard  they  would  not  produce  the 
authors  of  so  dangerous  a  treason,  they  made 
themselves  to  be  justly  thought  the  authors  of  it. 
And  therefore  though  he  might  by  his  own  royal 
justice  and  the  law  of  nations  punish  this  excess 
and  insolence  of  theirs,  and  high  wrongs  they  had 
done  to  his  best  servants,  yea,  to  the  Prince  his  son, 
for  through  the  sides  of  the  duke  they  wounded 
him,  in  regard  it  was  impossible  that  such  a  de- 
sign should  be  attempted  without  his  privity  ;  yet 
he  would  not  be  his  own  judge  herein,  but  would 
refer  them  to  the  King  their  master,  whom  he  con- 
ceived to  be  so  just,  that  he  doubted  not  but  he 
would  see  him  satisfied,  and  therefore  he  would 
send  an  express  unto  him  hereabouts  to  demand 
justice  and  reparation.  This  business  is  now  in 
agitation,  but  we  know  not  what  will  become  of  it. 
We  are  all  here  in  a  sad  disconsolate  condition, 
and  the  merchants  shake  their  heads  up  and  down 
out  of  an    apprehension  of  some  fearful    war    to 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  257 

follow.  —  So  I  most  affectionately  kiss  your  hands, 
and  rest  your  very  humble  and  ready  servitor, 

J.  H. 
Madrid,  August  16,  1623. 

XXX 

To  Sir  Kenehie  Digby,  Knight 

YOU  have  had  knowledge  (none  better)  of  the 
progression  and  growings  of  the  Spanish 
match  from  time  to  time.  I  must  acquaint  you  now 
with  the  rupture  and  utter  dissolution  of  it,  which 
was  not  long  a-doing,  for  it  was  done  in  one  audi- 
ence that  my  Lord  of  Bristol  had  lately  at  court, 
whence  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  is  far  more  easy 
to  pull  down  than  rear  up,  for  that  structure  which 
was  so  many  years  a-rearing  was  dashed  as  it  were 
in  a  trice.  Dissolution  goeth  a  faster  pace  than 
composition.  And  it  may  be  said  that  the  civil 
actions  of  men,  specially  great  affairs  of  monarchs 
(as  this  was)  have  much  analogy  in  degrees  of  pro- 
gression with  the  natural  production  of  man.  To 
make  man  there  are  many  acts  must  proceed  :  first 
a  meeting  and  copulation  of  the  sexes,  then  con- 
ception, which  requires  a  well  disposed  womb  to 
retain  the  prolifical  seed,  by  the  constriction  and 
occlusion  of  the  orifice  of  the  matrix,  which  seed 
being  first,  and  afterwards  cream,  is  by  a  gentle 
ebullition  coagulated,  and  turned  to  a  cruded  lump, 
which  the  womb  by  virtue  of  its  natural  heat  pre- 


258  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

pares  to  be  capable  to  receive  form  and  to  be  organ- 
ised, whereupon  Nature  falls  a-working  to  delineate 
all  the  members,  beginning  with  those  that  are 
most  noble,  as  the  heart,  the  brain,  the  liver,  where- 
of Galen  would  have  the  liver,  which  is  the  shop 
and  source  of  the  blood,  and  Aristotle  the  heart, 
to  be  the  first  framed,  in  regard  it  is  primum  vivens 
et  ultimum  moriens.  Nature  continues  in  this  labour 
until  a  perfect  shape  be  introduced,  and  this  is 
called  formation,  which  is  the  third  act,  and  is  a 
production  of  an  organical  body  out  of  the  sperm- 
atic substance,  caused  by  the  plastic  virtue  of  the 
vital  spirits.  And  sometimes  this  act  is  finished 
thirty  days  after  the  conception,  sometimes  fifty, 
but  most  commonly  in  forty-two  or  forty-five, 
and  is  sooner  done  in  the  male.  This  being  done, 
the  embryon  is  animated  with  three  souls  :  the  first 
with  that  of  plants,  called  the  vegetable  soul,  then 
with  a  sensitive,  which  all  brute  animals  have,  and 
lastly,  the  rational  soul  is  infused,  and  these  three 
in  man  are  like  trigonus  in  tetragono.  The  two  first 
are  generated  ex  traduce^  from  the  seed  of  the  par- 
ents, but  the  last  is  by  immediate  infusion  from 
God,  and  it  is  controverted  betwixt  philosophers 
and  divines  when  this  infusion  is  made. 

This  is  the  fourth  act  that  goeth  to  make  a  man, 
and  is  called  animation  ;  and  as  the  naturalists  allow 
animation  double  the  time  that  formation  had  from 
the  conception,  so  they  allow  to  the  ripening  of 
the  embryo  in  the  womb,  and  to  the  birth  thereof, 
treble  the  time  that  animation  had,  which  happen- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  259 

eth  sometimes  in  nine,  sometimes  in  ten  months. 
This  grand  business  of  the  Spanish  match  may  be 
said  to  have  had  such  degrees  of  progression. 
First  there  was  a  meeting  and  coupling  on  both 
sides,  for  a  Junta  in  Spain  and  some  select  coun- 
sellors of  state  were  appointed  in  England.  After 
this  conjunction  the  business  was  conceived,  then 
it  received  form,  then  life  (though  the  quickening 
was  slow);  but  having  had  near  upon  ten  years 
in  lieu  of  ten  months  to  be  perfected,  it  was  unfor- 
tunately strangled  when  it  was  ripe  ready  for  birth ; 
and  I  would  they  had  never  been  born  that  did 
it,  for  it  is  like  to  be  out  of  my  way  ^3000.  And 
as  the  embryo  in  the  womb  is  wrapped  in  three 
membranes  or  tunicles,  so  this  great  business,  you 
know  better  than  I,  was  involved  in  many  diffi- 
culties, and  died  so  entangled  before  it  could 
break  through  them. 

There  is  a  buzz  here  of  a  match  betwixt  Eng- 
land and  France;  I  pray  God  send  it  a  speedier 
formation  and  animation  than  this  had,  and  that 
it  may  not  prove  an  abortive. 

I  send  you  herewith  a  letter  from  the  paragon 
of  the  Spanish  court.  Donna  Anna  Maria  Man- 
rique,  the  Duke  of  Marqueda's  sister,  who  respects 
you  in  a  high  degree.  She  told  me  this  was  the 
first  letter  she  ever  wrote  to  man  in  her  life,  except 
the  duke  her  brother.  She  was  much  solicited 
to  write  to  Mr  Thomas  Cary,  but  she  would  not. 
I  did  also  your  message  to  the  Marquesa  Inojosa, 
who  put  me  to  sit  a  good  while  with   her  upon 


i6o  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

her  estrado,  which  was  no  simple  favour.  You  are 
much  in  both  these  ladies'  books,  and  much 
spoken  of  by  divers  others  in  this  court.  I  could 
not  recover  your  diamond  hatband  which  the  pica- 
roon snatched  from  you  in  the  coach,  though  I 
used  all  means  possible,  as  far  as  book,  bell  and 
candle  in  point  of  excommunication  against  the 
party  in  all  the  churches  of  Madrid,  by  which 
means  you  know  divers  things  are  recovered.  —  So 
I  most  affectionately  kiss  your  hands,  and  rest 
your  most  faithful  servitor,  J.  H. 

P.  S.  —  Yours  of  the  2nd  of  March  came  to 
safe  hand. 

Madrid. 

XXXI 

To  ?}jy  Cousin^  Mr  J.  Price  [now  Knight)  ^  at 
the  Middle  Temple ;  frotn  Madrid 


c 


OIJSIN,  suffer  my  letter  to  salute  you  first 
in  this  distitch: 

A  Thamesi  Tagus  quot  leucis  flumine  distat, 
Oscula  tot  manibus  porto,  pricaee,  tuis. 

As  many  miles  Thames  lies  from  Tagus  strands, 
I  bring  so  many  kisses  to  thy  hands. 

My  dear  Jack, 

IN  the  large  register  or  almanac  of  my  friends  in 
England,  you  are  one  of  the  chiefest  red  letters, 
you  are  one  of  my  festival  rubrics,  for  whensoever 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  261 

you  fall  upon  my  mind,  or  my  mind  falls  upon 
vou,  I  keep  holy-dav  all  the  while,  and  this  hap- 
pens so  often,  that  you  leave  me  but  few  working 
days  throughout  the  whole  year,  fewer  far  than  this 
country  affords,  for  in  their  calendar  above  five 
months  of  the  twelve  are  dedicated  to  some  saint 
or  other,  and  kept  festival ;  a  religion  that  the 
London  apprentices  would  like  well. 

1  thank  you  for  yours  of  the  third  current,  and 
the  ample  relations  you  give  me  of  London  occur- 
rences, but  principally  for  the  powerful  and  sweet 
assurances  you  give  me  of  your  love,  both  in  verse 
and  prose.  All  businesses  here  are  off  the  hinges  ; 
for  one  late  audience  of  my  Lord  of  Bristol  pulled 
down  what  was  so  many  years  a-raising.  And  as 
Thomas  Aquinas  told  an  artist  of  a  costly  curi- 
ous statue  in  Rome,  that  by  some  accident,  while 
he  was  a-trimming  it,  fell  down  and  so  broke 
to  pieces,  "  Opus  triginta  annorum  destruxiti  " 
(Thou  hast  destroyed  the  work  of  thirty  years). 
So  it  may  be  said  that  a  work  near  upon  ten  years 
is  now  suddenly  shattered  to  pieces.  I  hope  by 
God's  grace  to  be  now  speedily  in  England,  and 
to  re-enjoy  your  most  dear  society.  In  the  mean- 
time may  all  happiness  attend  you. 

Ad  literam. 
Ocius  ut  grandire  gradus  oratio  possis, 
Prosa,  tibi  binos  jungimus  ecce  pedes. 

That  in  thy  journey  thou  mayest  be  more  fleet. 
To  my  dull  prose  I  adde  these  metric  feet. 


262  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

Resp. 
Ad  mare  cum  venio,  quid  agam  ? 

Repl, 

Turn  praepete  penna 

Te  ferat,  est  lator  nam  levis  ignis.  Amor. 

But  when  I  come  to  sea  how  shall  I  shift  ? 
Let  love  transport  thee  then,  for  fire  is  swift. 

—  Your  most  affectionate  cousin, 

J.H. 

March  30,  1624. 

XXXII 

To  the  Lord  Viscount  Colchester ;  from  Madrid 

Right  Honourable, 

YOUR  lordship's  of  the  third  current  came  to 
safe  hand,  and  being  now  upon  the  point  of 
parting  with  this  court,  I  thought  it  worth  the 
labour  to  send  your  lordship  a  short  survey  of 
the  monarchy  of  Spain  ;  a  bold  undertaking  your 
lordship  will  say,  to  comprehend  within  the  narrow 
bounds  of  a  letter  such  a  huge  bulk;  but  as  in 
the  boss  of  a  small  diamond  ring  one  may  discern 
the  image  of  a  mighty  mountain,  so  I  will  en- 
deavour that  your  lordship  may  behold  the  power 
of  this  great  King  in  this  paper. 

Spain  hath  been  always  esteemed  a  country  of 
ancient  renown,  and  as  it  is  incident  to  all  others, 
she  hath  had  her  vicissitudes  and  turns  of  fortune. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  262 

She  hath  been  thrice  overcome:  by  the  Romans, 
by  the  Goths,  and  by  the  Moors.  The  middle 
conquest  continueth  to  this  day,  for  this  King  and 
most  of  the  nobility  profess  themselves  to  have 
descended  of  the  Goths.  The  Moors  kept  here 
about  seven  hundred  years,  and  it  is  a  remarkable 
story  how  they  got  in  first,  which  was  thus  upon 
good  record.  There  reigned  in  Spain  Don  Rod- 
rigo,  who  kept  his  court  then  at  Malaga.  He 
employed  the  Conde  Don  Julian,  ambassador  to 
Barbary,  who  had  a  daughter  (a  young  beautiful 
lady)  that  was  maid  of  honour  to  the  Queen.  The 
King  spying  her  one  day  refreshing  herself  under 
an  arbour,  fell  enamoured  with  her,  and  never  left 
till  he  had  deflowered  her.  She  resenting  much 
the  dishonour  wrote  a  letter  to  her  father  in  Bar- 
bary under  this  allegory:  That  there  was  a  fair 
green  apple  upon  the  table,  and  the  King's  poi- 
gnard  fell  upon  it  and  cleft  it  in  two.  Don  Julian 
apprehending  the  meaning,  got  letters  of  revoca- 
tion, and  came  back  to  Spain,  where  he  so  com- 
plied with  the  King,  that  he  became  his  favourite. 
Amongst  other  things  he  advised  the  King,  that 
in  regard  he  was  now  in  peace  with  all  the  world, 
he  would  dismiss  his  galleys  and  garrisons  that 
were  up  and  down  the  sea  coasts,  because  it  was 
a  superfluous  charge.  This  being  done,  and  the 
country  left  open  to  any  invader,  he  prevailed 
with  the  King  to  have  leave  to  go  with  his  lady 
to  see  their  friends  in  Tarragona,  which  was  300 
miles   off.    Having   been   there  a  while,  his  lady 


a64  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

made  semblance  to  be  sick,  and  so  sent  to  petition 
the  King,  that  her  daughter.  Donna  Cava  (whom 
they  had  left  at  court  to  satiate  the  King's  lust), 
might  come  to  comfort  her  a  while.  Cava  came, 
and  the  gate  through  which  she  went  forth  is 
called  after  her  name  to  this  day  in  Malaga.  Don 
Julian  having  all  his  chief  kindred  there,  he  sailed 
over  to  Barbary,  and  afterwards  brought  over  the 
King  of  Morocco  and  others  with  an  army,  who 
suddenly  invaded  Spain,  lying  armless  and  open, 
and  so  conquered  it.  Don  Rodrigo  died  gallantly 
in  the  field,  but  what  became  of  Don  Julian,  who 
for  a  particular  revenge  betrayed  his  own  country, 
no  story  makes  mention.  A  few  years  before  this 
happened  Rodrigo  came  to  Toledo,  where  under 
the  great  church  there  was  a  vault  with  huge  iron 
doors,  and  none  of  his  predecessors  durst  open  it, 
because  there  was  an  old  prophecy,  that  when 
that  vault  was  opened  Spain  should  be  conquered. 
Rodrigo,  slighting  the  prophecy,  caused  the  doors 
to  be  broke  open,  hoping  to  find  there  some  treas- 
ure; but  when  he  entered  there  was  nothing  found 
but  the  pictures  of  Moors,  of  such  men  that  a  little 
after  fulfilled  the  prophecy. 

Yet  this  last  conquest  of  Spain  was  not  perfect, 
for  divers  parts  north-west  kept  still  under  Chris- 
tian kings,  especially  Biscay,  which  was  never  con- 
quered, as  Wales  in  Britanny  ;  and  the  Biscayners 
have  much  analogy  with  the  Welsh  in  divers 
things:  they  retain  to  this  day  the  original  lan- 
guage of  Spain,  they  are  the  most  mountainous 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  265 

people,  and  they  are  reputed  the  ancientest  gen- 
try ;  so  that  when  any  is  to  take  the  order  of 
knighthood,  there  are  no  inquisitors  appointed  to 
find  whether  he  be  clear  of  the  blood  of  the  Moors 
as  in  other  places.  The  King,  when  he  comes 
upon  the  confines,  pulls  off  one  shoe  before  he 
can  tread  upon  any  Biscay  ground :  and  he  hath 
good  reason  to  esteem  that  province,  in  regard  of 
divers  advantages  he  hath  by  it ;  for  he  hath  his 
best  timber  to  build  ships,  his  best  marines,  and 
all  his  iron  thence. 

There  were  divers  bloody  battles  'twixt  the 
remnant  of  Christians  and  the  Moors  for  seven 
hundred  years  together,  and  the  Spaniards  getting 
ground  more  and  more,  drove  them  at  last  to 
Granada,  and  thence  also  in  the  time  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  quite  over  to  Barbary.  Their  last 
king  was  Chico,  who  when  he  fled  from  Granada 
crying  and  weeping,  the  people  upbraided  him, 
"  That  he  might  well  weep  like  a  woman,  who 
could  not  defend  himself  and  them  like  a  man  " 
(this  was  that  Ferdinand  who  obtained  from  Rome 
the  title  of  Catholic,  though  some  stories  say  that 
many  ages  before  Ricaredus,  the  first  orthodox 
king  of  the  Goths,  was  styled  Catholicus  in  a  Pro- 
vincial Synod  held  at  Toledo,  which  was  continued 
by  Alphonsus  the  First,  and  then  made  hereditary 
by  this  Ferdinand).  This  absolute  conquest  of 
the  Moors  happened  about  Henry  the  Seventh's 
time,  when  the  foresaid  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
had  by  alliance  joined  Castile  and  Aragon,  which 


266  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

with  the  discovery  of  the  West  Indies,  which 
happened  a  little  after,  was  the  first  foundation  of 
that  greatness  whereunto  Spain  is  now  mounted. 
Afterwards  there  was  an  alliance  with  Burgundy 
and  Austria.  By  the  first  House  the  seventeen 
provinces  fell  to  Spain  ;  by  the  second  Charles 
the  Fifth  came  to  be  Emperor :  and  remarkable  it 
is  how  the  House  of  Austria  came  to  that  height 
from  a  mean  earl,  the  Earl  of  Hapsburg  in  Ger- 
many, who  having  been  one  day  a-hunting,  he 
overtook  a  priest  who  had  been  with  the  Sacra- 
ment to  visit  a  poor,  sick  body;  the  priest  being 
tired,  the  earl  alighted  off  his  horse,  helped  up 
the  priest,  and  so  waited  upon  him  afoot  all  the 
while,  till  he  brought  him  to  the  church:  the 
priest,  giving  him  his  benediction  at  his  going 
away,  told  him,  that  for  this  great  act  of  humility 
and  piety,  his  race  should  be  one  of  the  greatest 
that  ever  the  world  had ;  and  ever  since,  which  is 
some  240  years  ago,  the  Empire  hath  continued 
in  that  House,  which  afterwards  was  called  the 
House  of  Austria. 

In  Philip  the  Second's  time  the  Spanish  mon- 
archy came  to  its  highest  pitch,  by  the  conquest  :  1 
of  Portugal,  whereby  the  East  Indies,  sundry  '  I 
islands  in  the  Atlantic  Sea,  and  divers  places  in 
Barbary  were  added  to  the  Crown  of  Spain.  By 
these  steps  this  crown  came  to  this  grandeur  ; 
and  truly,  give  the  Spaniard  his  due,  he  is  a  mighty 
monarch  ;  he  hath  dominions  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  (which  none  of  the  four  monarchies  had), 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL         267 

both  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  America  (which 
he  hath  solely  to  himself),  though  our  Henry 
the  Seventh  had  the  first  proffer  made  him  :  so 
the  sun  shines  all  the  four  and  twenty  hours  of 
the  natural  day  upon  some  part  or  other  of  his 
countries,  for  part  of  the  Antipodes  are  subject  to 
him.  He  hath  eight  viceroys  in  Europe,  two  in 
the  East  Indies,  two  in  the  West,  two  in  Africa, 
and  about  thirty  provincial  sovereign  commanders 
more  ;  yet  as  I  was  told  lately,  in  a  discourse 
'twixt  him  and  our  Prince  at  his  being  here,  when 
the  Prince  fell  to  magnifying  his  spacious  domin- 
ions, the  King  answered,  "  Sir,  'tis  true  it  hath 
pleased  God  to  trust  me  with  divers  nations  and 
countries,  but  of  all  these  there  are  but  two  which 
yield  me  any  clear  revenues,  viz.,  Spain  and  my 
West  Indies,  nor  all  Spain  neither,  but  Castile 
only,  the  rest  do  scarce  quit  cost,  for  all  is  drunk 
up  'twixt  governors  and  garrisons  ;  yet  my  ad- 
vantage is  to  have  the  opportunity  to  propagate 
Christian  religion,  and  to  employ  my  subjects." 
For  the  last,  it  must  be  granted  that  no  prince 
hath  better  means  to  breed  brave  men,  and  more 
variety  of  commands  to  heighten  their  spirits, 
with  no  petty  but  princely  employments. 

This  King  besides  hath  other  means  to  oblige 
the  gentry  unto  him  by  such  a  huge  number  of 
commendams  which  he  hath  in  his  gift  to  bestow 
on  whom  he  please  of  any  of  the  three  Orders 
of  Knighthood,  which  England  and  France  want. 
Some  noblemen  in  Spain  can  despend  ^50,000. 


a68  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

some  ^40,000,  some  ^30,000,  and  divers  jQio,- 
000  pound  per  annum.  The  Church  here  is  ex- 
ceeding rich  both  in  revenues,  plate,  and  buildings ; 
one  cannot  go  to  the  meanest  country  chapel  but 
he  will  find  chalices,  lamps  and  candlesticks  of 
silver.  There  are  some  bishopricks  of  ^30,000 
per  annum,  and  divers  of  _;/^  10,000,  and  To- 
ledo is  ^100,000  yearly  revenue.  As  the  Church 
is  rich,  so  it  is  mightily  reverenced  here,  and  very 
powerful,  which  made  Philip  the  Second  rather 
depend  upon  the  clergy  than  the  secular  power. 
Therefore  I  do  not  see  how  Spain  can  be  called 
a  poor  country  considering  the  revenues  afore- 
said of  princes  and  prelates;  nor  is  it  so  thin  of 
people  as  the  world  makes  it ;  and  one  reason  may 
be  that  there  are  sixteen  universities  in  Spain,  and 
in  one  of  these  there  were  15,000  students  at  one 
time  when  I  was  there,  I  mean  Salamanca ;  and 
in  this  village  of  Madrid  (for  the  King  of  Spain 
cannot  keep  his  constant  court  in  any  city)  there 
are  ordinarily  600,000  souls.  'T  is  true  that  the 
colonising  of  the  Indies  and  the  wars  of  Flanders 
have  much  drained  this  country  of  people.  Since 
the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  it  is  also  grown  thin- 
ner, and  not  so  full  of  corn  ;  for  those  Moors 
would  grub  up  wheat  out  of  the  very  tops  of  the 
craggy  hills  ;  yet  they  used  another  grain  for  their 
bread,  so  that  the  Spaniard  had  nought  else  to  do 
but  go  with  his  ass  to  the  market  and  buy  corn  of 
the  Moors. 

For  the  soil  of  Spain,  the  fruitfulness  of  their 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  269 

valleys  recompenses  the  sterility  of  their  hills. 
Corn  is  their  greatest  want,  and  want  of  rain  is  the 
cause  of  that,  which  makes  them  have  need  of  their 
neighbours  ;  yet  as  much  as  Spain  bears  is  passing 
good,  and  so  is  everything  else  for  the  quality  ; 
nor  hath  any  one  a  better  horse  under  him,  a  better 
cloak  on  his  back,  a  better  sword  by  his  side,  better 
shoes  on  his  feet  than  the  Spaniard,  nor  doth  any 
drink  better  wine  or  eat  better  fruit  than  he,  nor 
flesh  for  the  quantity. 

Touching  the  people,  the  Spaniard  looks  as 
high,  though  not  so  big  as  a  German,  his  excess  is 
in  too  much  gravity,  which  some  who  know  him 
not  well  hold  to  be  pride  ;  he  cares  not  how  little 
he  labours,  for  poor  Gascons  and  Morisco  slaves 
do  most  of  his  work  in  field  and  vineyard  ;  he  can 
endure  much  in  the  war,  yet  he  loves  not  to  fight 
in  the  dark,  but  in  open  day  or  upon  a  stage,  that 
all  the  world  might  be  witness  of  his  valour,  so 
that  you  shall  seldom  hear  of  Spaniards  employed 
in  night  service,  nor  shall  one  hear  of  a  duel  here 
in  an  age.  He  hath  one  good  quality,  that  he 
is  wonderfully  obedient  to  government :  for  the 
proudest  don  of  Spain,when  he  is  prancing  upon  his 
ginetin  the  street,  if  an  Alguazil  (a  sergeant)  show 
him  his  vare,  that  is  a  little  white  staff  he  carrieth 
as  a  badge  of  his  office,  my  don  will  down  presently 
off  his  horse  and  yield  himself  his  prisoner.  He 
hath  another  commendable  quality,  that  when  he 
giveth  alms  he  pulls  off  his  hat  and  puts  it  in  the 
beggar's  hand  with  a  great  deal  of  humility.    His 


270  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

gravity  is  much  lessened  since  the  late  proclamation 
came  out  against  ruffs,  and  the  King  himself  showed 
the  first  example.  They  were  come  to  that  height 
of  excess  herein  that  twenty  shillings  were  used  to 
be  paid  for  starching  of  a  ruff;  and  some,  though 
perhaps  he  had  never  a  shirt  to  his  back,  yet  would 
he  have  a  toting  huge  swelling  ruff  about  his  neck. 
He  is  sparing  in  his  ordinary  diet,  but  when  he 
makes  a  feast  he  is  free  and  bountiful.  As  to 
temporal  authority,  specially  martial,  so  is  he  very 
obedient  to  the  Church,  and  believes  all  with  an 
implicit  faith.  He  is  a  great  servant  of  ladies,  nor 
can  he  be  blamed,  for  as  I  said  before,  he  comes 
of  a  Goatish  race,  yet  he  never  brags  of  nor  blazes 
abroad  his  doings  that  way,  but  is  exceedingly 
careful  of  the  repute  of  any  woman  (a  civility  that 
we  much  want  in  England).  He  will  speak  high 
words  of  Don  Phillippo  his  king,  but  will  not 
endure  a  stranger  should  do  so.  I  have  heard 
a  Biscayner  make  a  rodomontado  that  he  was  as 
good  a  gentleman  as  Don  Phillippo  himself,  for 
Don  Phillippo  was  half  a  Spaniard,  half  a  Ger- 
man, half  an  Italian,  half  a  Frenchman,  half  I 
know  not  what,  but  he  was  a  pure  Biscayner  with- 
out mixture.  The  Spaniard  is  not  so  smooth  and 
oily  in  his  compliments  as  the  Italian,  and  though 
he  will  make  strong  protestations  yet  he  will  not 
swear  out  compliments  like  the  French  and  Eng- 
lish ;  as  I  heard  when  my  Lord  of  Carlisle  was 
ambassador  in  France,  there  came  a  great  monsieur 
to  see  him,  and  having  a  long  time  bandied  and 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  271 

sworn  compliments  one  to  another  who  should  go 
first  out  at  a  door,  at  last  my  Lord  of  Carlisle 
said:  "O  monseigneur,  ayez  pitie  de  mon  ame" 
(O  my  lord,  have  pity  upon  my  soul). 

The  Spaniard  is  generally  given  to  gaming,  and 
that  in  excess;  he  will  sav  his  prayers  before,  and 
if  he  win,  he  will  thank  God  for  his  good  fortune 
after.  Their  common  game  at  cards  (for  they  very 
seldom  play  at  dice)  is  primera,  at  which  the  King 
never  shows  his  game  but  throws  his  cards  with 
their  faces  down  on  the  table.  He  is  merchant 
of  all  the  cards  and  dice  throughout  the  kingdom  ; 
he  hath  them  made  for  a  penny  a  pair,  and  he  retails 
them  for  twelve  pence,  so  that  it  is  thought  he 
hath  ^30,000  a  year  by  this  trick  at  cards.  The 
Spaniard  is  very  devout  in  his  way,  for  I  have 
seen  him  kneel  in  the  very  dirt  when  the  Ave 
Maria  bell  rings  ;  and  some  if  they  spy  two  straws 
or  sticks  lie  crosswise  in  the  street  they  will  take 
them  up  and  kiss  them,  and  lay  them  down  again. 
He  walks  as  if  he  marched,  and  seldom  looks 
on  the  ground,  as  if  he  contemned  it.  I  was  told 
of  a  Spaniard  who  having  got  a  fall  by  a  stumble 
and  broke  his  nose,  rose  up,  and  in  a  disdainful 
manner  said,  "Voto  a  tal  esto  es  caminar  por  la 
tierra  "  (This  is  to  walk  upon  earth).  The  Labra- 
dors  and  countrv  swains  here  are  sturdy  and 
rational  men,  nothing  so  simple  or  servile  as  the 
French  peasant,  who  is  born  in  chains.  It  is  true 
the  Spaniard  is  not  so  conversable  as  other  nations 
(unless  he  hath  travelled),  else  he  is  like   Mars 


272  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

among  the  planets,  impatient  of  conjunction.  Nor 
is  he  so  free  in  his  gifts  and  rewards  :  as  the  last 
summer  it  happened  that  Count  Gondomar  with 
Sir  Francis  Cottington  went  to  see  a  curious 
house  of  the  Constable  of  Castile's,  which  had 
been  newly  built  here.  The  keeper  of  the  house 
was  very  officious  to  show  him  every  room,  with 
the  garden,  grottos  and  aqueducts,  and  presented 
him  with  some  fruit.  Gondomar  having  been  a 
long  time  in  the  house,  coming  out,  put  many 
compliments  of  thanks  upon  the  man,  and  so  was 
going  away.  Sir  Francis  whispered  him  in  the  ear 
and  asked  him  whether  he  would  give  the  man 
anything  that  took  such  pains.  "  Oh,"  quoth 
Gondomar,  "well  remembered,  Don  Francisco; 
have  you  ever  a  double  pistole  about  you  ?  If 
you  have,  you  may  give  it  him,  and  then  you  pay 
him  after  the  English  manner.  I  have  paid  him 
already  after  the  Spanish."  The  Spaniard  is  much 
improved  in  policy  since  he  took  footing  in  Italy, 
and  there  is  no  nation  agrees  with  him  better, 
I  will  conclude  this  character  with  a  saying  that  he 
hath  — 

No  ay  hombre  debaxo  d'el  sol. 
Come  el  Italiano  y  el  Espanol. 

Whereunto  a  Frenchman  answered  — 

Dizes  la  verdad,  y  tienes  razon. 
El  uno  es  puto,  el  otro  ladron, 

Englished  thus  — 

Beneath  the  sun  there  's  no  such  man. 
As  is  the  Spaniard  and  Italian. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  273 

The  Frenchman  answers  — 

Thou  tell'st  the  truth,  and  reason  hast. 
The  first 's  a  thief,  a  buggerer  the  last. 

Touching  their  women,  nature  hath  made  a  more 
visible  distinction  betwixt  the  two  sexes  here  than 
elsewhere ;  for  the  men,  for  the  most  part,  are 
swarthy  and  rough,  but  the  women  are  of  a  far 
finer  mould.  They  are  commonly  little.  And 
whereas  there  is  a  saying  that  makes  a  complete 
woman,  let  her  be  English  to  the  neck,  French  to 
the  waist,  and  Dutch  below  ;  I  may  add  for  hands 
and  feet  let  her  be  Spanish,  for  they  have  the 
least  of  any.  They  have  another  saying :  a  French- 
woman in  a  dance,  a  Dutchwoman  in  the  kitchen, 
an  Italian  in  a  window,  an  Englishwoman  at  board, 
and  the  Spanish  a-bed.  When  they  are  married 
they  have  a  privilege  to  wear  high  shoes,  and  to 
paint,  which  is  generally  practised  here,  and  the 
Queen  useth  it  herself.  They  are  coy  enough,  but 
not  so  froward  as  our  English,  for  if  a  lady  go 
along  the  street  (and  all  women  going  here  veiled 
and  their  habit  so  generally  alike,  one  can  hardly 
distinguish  a  countess  from  a  cobbler's  wife),  if 
one  should  cast  out  an  odd  ill-sounding  word, 
and  ask  her  a  favour,  she  will  not  take  it  ill,  but 
put  it  off  and  answer  you  with  some  witty  retort. 
After  thirty  they  are  commonly  past  child-bearing, 
and  1  have  seen  women  in  England  look  as  youth- 
ful at  fifty  as  some  here  at  twenty-five.  Money 
will  do  miracles  here  in  purchasing  the  favour 
of  ladies,  or  anything  else;    though   this  be  the 


274  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

country  of  money,  for  it  furnisheth  well  near  all 
the  world  besides,  yea,  their  very  enemies,  as  the 
Turk  and  Hollander;  insomuch  that  one  may 
say  the  coin  of  Spain  is  as  Catholic  as  her  king. 
Yet  though  he  be  the  greatest  king  of  gold  and 
silver  mines  in  the  world  (I  think),  yet  the  com- 
mon current  coin  here  is  copper,  and  herein  I  be- 
lieve the  Hollander  hath  done  him  more  mischief 
by  counterfeiting  his  copper  coins  than  by  their 
arms,  bringing  it  in  by  strange  surreptitious  ways, 
as  in  hollow  sows  of  tin  and  lead,  hollow  masts, 
in  pitch  buckets  under  water  and  other  ways. 
But  I  fear  to  be  injurious  to  this  great  king,  to 
speak  of  him  in  so  a  narrow  a  compass:  a  great 
king  indeed,  though  the  French  in  a  slighting  way 
compare  his  monarchy  to  a  beggar's  cloak  made 
up  of  patches.  They  are  patches  indeed,  but  such 
as  he  hath  not  the  like.  The  East  Indies  is  a 
patch  embroidered  with  pearl,  rubies,  and  dia- 
monds. Peru  is  a  patch  embroidered  with  massive 
gold;  Mexico  with  silver;  Naples  and  Milan  are 
patches  of  cloth  of  tissue;  and  if  these  patches 
were  in  one  piece,  what  would  become  of  his  cloak 
embroidered  with  flower  de  luces  ? 

So  desiring  your  lordship  to  pardon  this  poor 
imperfect  paper,  considering  the  high  quality  of 
the  subject,  I  rest,  your  lordship's  most  humble 
servitor,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  i  February  1623. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  275 

XXXIII 

To  Mr  Walsinghaju  Gresly ;  from  Madrid 

Don  Balthasar, 

I  THANK  you  for  your  letter  in  my  lord's  last 
packet,  wherein  among  other  passages  you 
write  unto  me  the  circumstances  of  Marquis  Spi- 
nola's  raising  his  leaguer  by  flatting  and  firing  his 
works  before  Berghen.  He  is  much  taxed  here  to 
have  atempted  it,  and  to  have  buried  so  much  of 
the  king's  treasure  before  that  town  in  such  costly 
trenches.  A  gentleman  came  hither  lately,  who 
was  at  the  siege  all  the  while,  and  he  told  me  one 
strange  passage,  how  Sir  Ferdinand  Cary,  a  huge 
corpulent  knight,  was  shot  through  his  body,  the 
bullet  entering  at  the  navel,  and  coming  out  at 
his  back  killed  his  man  behind  him,  yet  he  lives 
still,  and  is  like  to  recover.  With  this  miraculous 
accident  he  told  me  also  a  merry  one,  how  a  cap- 
tain that  had  a  wooden  leg  booted  over,  had  it 
shattered  to  pieces  by  a  cannon  bullet,  his  soldiers 
crying  out  "A  surgeon,  a  surgeon,  for  the  cap- 
tain." "  No,  no,"  said  he,  "  a  carpenter,  a  carpen- 
ter will  serve  the  turn."  To  this  pleasant  tale  I  '11 
add  another  that  happened  lately  in  Alcala  hard  by 
of  a  Dominican  friar,  who  in  a  solemn  procession 
which  was  held  there  upon  Ascension  Day  last, 
had  his  stones  dangling  under  his  habit  cut  oflf 
instead  of  his  pocket  by  a  cut-purse. 


276  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

Before  you  return  hither,  which  I  understand 
will  be  speedily,  I  pray  bestow  a  visit  on  our 
friends  in  Bishopsgate  Street.  So  I  am  your  faith- 
ful servitor,  J-  H. 

3  February  1623. 

XXXIV 

To  Sir  Robert  Napier,  Knight,  at  his  house 
in  Bishopsgate  Street;  from  Madrid 

THE  late  breach  of  the  match  hath  broke  the 
neck  of  all  businesses  here,  and  mine  suffers 
as  much  as  any.  I  had  access  lately  to  Olivares, 
once  or  twice ;  I  had  audience  also  of  the  King, 
to  whom  I  presented  a  memorial  that  intimated 
letters  of  mart,  unless  satisfaction  were  had  from 
his  viceroy  the  Conde  del  Real.  The  King  gave 
me  a  gracious  answer,  but  Olivares  a  churlish 
one,  viz.,  that  when  the  Spaniards  had  justice  in 
England  we  should  have  justice  here.  So  that 
notwithstanding  I  have  brought  it  to  the  highest 
point  and  pitch  of  perfection  in  law  that  could  be, 
and  procured  some  dispatches,  the  like  whereof 
were  never  granted  in  this  court  before,  yet  I  am 
in  despair  now  to  do  any  good.  I  hope  to  be 
shortly  in  England,  by  God's  grace,  to  give  you 
and  the  rest  of  the  proprietaries  a  punctual  account 
of  all  things.  And  you  may  easily  conceive  how 
sorry  I  am  that  matters  succeeded  not  according  to 
your  expectation  and  my  endeavours;  but  I  hope 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  277 

you  are  none  of  those  that  measure  things  by  the 
event.  The  Earl  of  Bristol,  Count  Gondomar, 
and  my  Lord  Ambassador  Aston  did  not  only 
do  courtesies,  but  they  did  co-operate  with  me  in 
it,  and  contributed  their  utmost  endeavours.  —  So 
I  rest,  yours  to  serve  you,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  February  18,  1623. 

XXXV 

To  Mr  A.  S.,  in  Alicante 

MUCH  endeared  sir,  fire,  you  know,  is  the 
common  emblem  of  love.  But  without  any 
disparagement  to  so  noble  a  passion,  methinks  it 
might  be  also  compared  to  tinder,  and  letters  are 
the  properest  matter  whereof  to  make  this  tinder. 
Letters  again  are  fittest  to  kindle  and  re-accend 
this  tinder.  They  may  serve  both  for  flint,  steel 
and  match.  This  letter  of  mine  comes  therefore 
of  set  purpose  to  strike  some  sparkles  into  yours, 
that  it  may  glow  and  burn  and  receive  ignition, 
and  not  lie  dead,  as  it  hath  done  a  great  while.  I 
make  my  pen  to  serve  for  an  instrument  to  stir 
the  cinders  wherewith  your  old  love  to  me  hath 
been  covered  a  long  time,  therefore  I  pray  let  no 
couvre-feu  bell  have  power  hereafter  to  rake  up 
and  choke  with  the  ashes  of  obHvion  that  clear 
flame  wherewith  our  aff'ections  did  use  to  sparkle 
so  long  by  correspondence  of  letters  and  other 
offices  of  love. 


278  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

I  think  I  shall  sojourn  yet  in  this  court  these 
three  months,  for  I  will  not  give  over  this  great 
business  while  there  is  the  least  breath  of  hope 
remaining. 

I  know  you  have  choice  matters  of  intelligence 
sometimes  from  thence,  therefore  I  pray  impart 
some  unto  us,  and  you  shall  not  fail  to  know  how 
matters  pass  here  weekly.  So  with  my  besamanos 
to  Francisco  Imperial,  I  rest  yours  most  affection- 
ately to  serve  you,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  3  March  1623. 

XXXVI 

To  the  Honourable  Sir  T.  S.,  at  Tower  Hill 

I  WAS  yesterday  at  the  Escurial  to  see  the 
Monastery  of  Saint  Laurence,  the  eighth  won- 
der of  the  world ;  and  truly  considering  the  site 
of  the  place,  the  state  of  the  thing,  and  the  sym- 
metry of  the  structure,  with  divers  other  rarities, 
it  may  be  called  so;  for  what  I  have  seen  in  Italy, 
and  other  places,  are  but  baubles  to  it.  It  is  built 
amongst  a  company  of  craggy  barren  hills,  which 
makes  the  air  the  hungrier  and  wholesomer;  it  is  all 
built  of  freestone  and  marble,  and  that  with  such 
solidity  and  moderate  height  that  surely  Philip 
the  Second's  chief  design  was  to  make  a  sacrifice 
of  it  to  eternity,  and  to  contest  with  the  meteors  and 
time  itself.  It  cost  eight  millions;  it  was  twenty- 
four  years  a-building,  and  the  founder  himself  saw 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  279 

it  furnished,  and  enjoyed  it  twelve  years  after,  and 
carried  his  bones  himself  thither  to  be  buried. 

The  reason  that  moved  King  Philip  to  waste 
so  much  treasure  was  a  vow  he  had  made  at  the 
battle  of  Saint  Quentin,  where  he  was  forced  to 
batter  a  monastery  of  Saint  Laurence  friars,  and 
if  he  had  the  victory,  he  would  erect  such  a  mon- 
astery to  Saint  Laurence  that  the  world  had  not 
the  like  ;  therefore  the  form  of  it  is  like  a  grid- 
iron, the  handle  is  a  huge  royal  palace,  and  the 
body  a  vast  monastery  or  assembly  of  quadran- 
gular cloisters,  for  there  are  as  many  as  there  be 
months  in  the  year.  There  be  a  hundred  monks, 
and  every  one  hath  his  man  and  his  mule,  and 
a  multitude  of  officers  ;  besides,  there  are  three 
libraries  there,  full  of  the  choicest  books  for  all 
sciences.  It  is  beyond  expression  what  grots, 
gardens,  walks,  and  aqueducts  there  are  there,  and 
what  curious  fountains  in  the  upper  cloisters,  for 
there  be  two  stages  of  cloisters.  In  fine,  there  is 
nothing  that 's  vulgar  there.  To  take  a  view  of 
every  room  in  the  house  one  must  make  account 
to  go  ten  miles  ;  there  is  a  vault  called  the  Pan- 
theon under  the  highest  altar,  which  is  all  paved, 
walled,  and  arched  with  marble  ;  there  be  a  num- 
ber of  huge  silver  candlesticks,  taller  than  I  am  ; 
lamps  three  yards  compass,  and  divers  chalices 
and  crosses  of  massive  gold  ;  there  is  one  choir 
made  all  of  burnished  brass;  pictures  and  statues 
like  giants  ;  and  a  world  of  glorious  things  that 
purely  ravished  me.    By  this  mighty  monument, 


dSo  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

it  may  be  inferred  that  Philip  the  Second,  though 
he  was  a  little  man,  yet  had  he  vast  gigantic 
thoughts  in  him,  to  leave  such  a  huge  pile  for 
posterity  to  gaze  upon  and  admire  his  memory. 
No  more  now,  but  that  I  rest,  your  most  humble 
servitor,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  March  9,  1623. 


XXXVII 

To  the  Lord  Viscount  Colchester;  from  Madrid 

My  Lord, 

YOU  wrote  to  me  not  long  since  to  send  you 
an  account  of  the  Duke  of  Ossuna's  death, 
a  little  man,  but  of  great  fame  and  fortunes,  and 
much  cried  up,  and  known  up  and  down  the 
world.  He  was  revoked  from  being  Viceroy  of 
Naples  (the  best  employment  the  King  of  Spain 
hath  for  a  subject)  upon  some  disgust ;  and  being 
come  to  this  court  where  he  was  brought  to  give 
an  account  of  his  government,  being  troubled  with 
the  gout,  he  carried  his  sword  in  his  hand  instead 
of  a  staff.  The  King  misliking  the  manner  of  his 
posture,  turned  his  back  to  him,  and  so  went 
away.  Thereupon  he  was  overheard  to  mutter, 
"  Esto  es  par  a  servir  muchachos  "  (This  it  is 
to  serve  boys).  This  coming  to  the  King's  ear, 
he  was  apprehended  and  committed  prisoner  to 
a  monastery  not  far  off,  where  he  continued  some 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  281 

years  until  his  beard  came  to  his  girdle,  then  grow- 
ing very  ill,  he  was  permitted  to  come  to  his  house 
in  this  town,  being  carried  in  a  bed  upon  men's 
shoulders,  and  so  died  some  years  ago.  There 
were  divers  accusations  against  him,  amongst  the 
rest,  I  remember  these.  That  he  had  kept  the 
Marquis  de  Campolataro's  wife,  sending  her  hus- 
band out  of  the  way  upon  employment.  That 
he  had  got  a  bastard  of  a  Turkish  woman,  and 
suffered  the  child  to  be  brought  up  in  the  Mo- 
hammedan religion.  That  being  one  day  at  high 
mass,  when  the  host  was  elevated  he  drew  out 
of  his  pocket  a  piece  of  gold,  and  held  it  up, 
intimating  that  that  was  his  god.  That  he  had  in- 
vited some  of  the  prime  courtesans  of  Naples  to 
a  feast,  and  after  dinner  made  a  banquet  for  them 
in  his  garden,  where  he  commanded  them  to  strip 
themselves  stark  naked  and  go  up  and  down, 
while  he  shot  sugar  plums  at  them  out  of  a  trunk, 
which  they  were  to  take  up  from  off  their  high 
chapins,  and  such  like  extravagances.  One 
(amongst  divers  others)  witty  passage  was  told 
me  of  him,  which  was,  that  when  he  was  Viceroy 
of  Sicily,  there  died  a  great  rich  duke,  who  left 
but  one  son,  whom  with  his  whole  estate  he  be- 
queathed to  the  tutule  of  the  Jesuits,  and  the 
words  of  the  will  were,  "  When  he  is  past  his 
minority  "  {darete  al  mio  figliuolo  quelque  voi  vo- 
lete)  "  you  shall  give  my  son  what  you  will."  It 
seems  the  Jesuits  took  to  themselves  two  parts 
of  three   of  the  estate,  and  gave  the  rest  to  the 


282  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

heir.  The  young  duke  complaining  hereof  to  the 
Duke  of  Ossuna  (then  viceroy),  he  commanded 
the  Jesuits  to  appear  before  him.  He  asked  them 
how  much  of  the  estate  they  would  have,  they  an- 
swered two  parts  of  three,  which  they  had  almost 
employed  already  to  build  monasteries  and  an 
hospital,  to  erect  particular  altars  and  masses,  to 
sing  dirges  and  refrigeriums  for  the  soul  of  the 
deceased  duke.  Hereupon  the  Duke  of  Ossuna 
caused  the  will  to  be  produced,  and  found  therein 
the  words  afore-recited,  "  When  he  is  passed  his 
minority,  you  shall  give  my  son  of  my  estate 
what  you  will."  Then  he  told  the  Jesuits,  you 
must  by  virtue  and  tenor  of  these  words,  give 
what  you  will  to  the  son,  which  by  your  own  con- 
fession is  two  parts  of  three,  and  so  he  determined 
the  business. 

Thus  have  I  in  part  satisfied  your  lordship's 
desire,  which  I  shall  do  more  amply  when  I  shall 
be  made  happy  to  attend  you  in  person,  which  I 
hope  will  be  ere  it  be  long.  In  the  interim,  I  take 
my  leave  of  you  from  Spain,  and  rest  your  lord- 
ship's most  ready  and  humble  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Madrid,  13  March  1623. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  283 

XXXVIII 

To  Simon  Digby^  Esq. 

I  THANK  you  for  the  several  sorts  of  cyphers 
you  sent  me  to  write  by,  which  were  very 
choice  ones  and  curious.  Cryptology,  or  Episto- 
lising  in  a  Clandestine  Way,  is  very  ancient.  I 
read  in  A.  Gellius  that  C.  Caesar  in  his  letters  to 
Caius  Oppius  and  Balbus  Cornelius,  who  were 
two  of  his  greatest  confidants  in  managing  his 
private  affairs,  did  write  in  cyphers  by  a  various 
transportation  of  the  alphabet ;  whereof  Proclus 
Grammaticus,  De  occulta  literarum  significatione 
Epistolarum  C.  Caesaris,  writes  a  curious  com- 
mentary. But  methinks  that  certain  kind  of  hiero- 
glyphics, the  celestial  signs,  the  seven  planets, 
and  other  constellations  might  make  a  curious 
kind  of  cypher,  as  I  will  more  particularly  demon- 
strate unto  you  in  a  scheme,  when  I  shall  be 
happy  with  your  conversation.  —  So  I  rest,  your 
assured  servitor,  J.  H. 

Madrid,  March  15,  1623. 

XXXIX 

To  Sir  'James  Crofts;  from  Bilboa 


B 


KING  safely  come  to  the  Marine,  in  convoy 
of  His  Majesty's  jewels,  and  being  to  sojourn 


284  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

here  some  days,  the  conveniency  of  this  gentleman 
(who  knows,  and  much  honoureth  you),  he  being 
to  ride  post  through  France,  invited  me  to  send  you 
this. 

We  were  but  five  horsemen  in  all  our  seven  days' 
journey  from  Madrid  hither,  and  the  charge  Mr 
Wiches  had  is  valued  at  four  hundred  thousand 
crowns  ;  but  it  is  such  safe  travelling  in  Spain,  that 
one  may  carry  gold  in  the  palm  of  his  hand,  the 
government  is  so  good.  When  we  had  gained 
Biscay  ground,  we  passed  one  day  through  a  forest, 
and  lighting  off  our  mules  to  take  a  little  repast 
under  a  tree,  we  took  down  our  alforjas  and  some 
bottles  of  wine  (and  you  know  it  is  ordinary  here 
to  ride  with  one's  victuals  about  him),  but  as  we 
were  eating  we  spied  two  huge  wolves,  who  stared 
upon  us  a  while,  but  had  the  good  manners  to  go 
away.  It  put  me  in  mind  of  a  pleasant  tale  I  heard 
Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  relate  of  a  soldier  in  Ireland, 
who  having  got  his  passport  to  go  for  England,  as 
he  passed  through  a  wood  with  his  knapsack  upon 
his  back,  being  weary,  he  sat  down  under  a  tree, 
where  he  opened  his  knapsack,  and  fell  to  some 
victuals  he  had;  but  upon  a  sudden  he  was  sur- 
prised with  two  or  three  wolves,  who,  coming 
towards  him,  he  threw  them  scraps  of  bread  and 
cheese,  till  all  was  done,  then  the  wolves  making  a 
nearer  approach  unto  him,  he  knew  not  what  shift 
to  make,  but  by  taking  a  pair  of  bagpipes  which 
he  had,  and  as  soon  as  he  began  to  play  upon  them 
the  wolves  ran  all  away  as  if  they  had  been  scared 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  285 

out  of  their  wits  ;  whereupon  the  soldier  said,  "  A 
pox  take  you  all,  if  1  had  known  you  had  loved 
music  so  well,  you  should  have  had  it  before  din- 
ner. 

If  there  be  a  lodging  void  at  the  Three  Hal- 
bards  Heads,  I  pray  be  pleased  to  cause  it  to  be 
reserved  for  me.    So  I  rest,  your  humble  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Bilboa,  September  6,  1624. 


EPISTOL^    HO-ELIAN^ 
SECTION   IV 


SECTION  IV 


To  my  Father;  from  London 

I  AM  newly  returned  from  Spain.  I  came  over 
in  convoy  of  the  Prince  his  jewels,  for  which 
one  of  the  ships  royal  with  the  Catch  were  sent 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Love.  We  landed 
at  Plymouth,  whence  I  came  by  post  to  Theo- 
bald's in  less  than  two  nights  and  a  day,  to 
bring  His  Majesty  news  of  their  safe  arrival.  The 
Prince  had  newly  got  a  fall  off  a  horse,  and  kept 
his  chamber.  The  jewels  were  valued  at  above  a 
hundred  thousand  pounds.  Some  of  them  a  little 
before  the  Prince  his  departure  had  been  presented 
to  the  Infanta,  but  she  waiving  to  receive  them, 
yet  with  a  civil  compliment  they  were  left  in  the 
hands  of  one  of  the  secretaries  of  state  for  her  use 
upon  the  wedding  day,  and  it  was  no  unworthy 
thing  in  the  Spaniard  to  deliver  them  back,  not- 
withstanding that  the  treaties  both  of  match  and 
Palatinate  had  been  dissolved  a  pretty  while  before 
by  act  of  Parliament,  that  a  war  was  threatened, 
and  ambassadors  revoked.  There  were  jewels  also 
amongst  them   to  be  presented  to  the   King  and 


290  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

Queen  of  Spain,  to  most  of  the  ladies  of  honour, 
and  the  grandees.  There  was  a  great  table  dia- 
mond for  Olivares  of  1 8  carats'  weight ;  but  the 
richest  of  all  was  to  the  Infanta  herself,  which  was 
a  chain  of  great  orient  pearls,  to  the  number  of  276, 
weighing  nine  ounces.  The  Spaniards,  notwith- 
standing they  are  the  masters  of  the  staple  of  jewels, 
stood  astonished  at  the  beauty  of  these,  and  con- 
fessed themselves  to  be  put  down. 

Touching  the  employment  upon  which  I  went 
to  Spain,  I  had  my  charges  borne  all  the  while, 
and  that  was  all.  Had  it  taken  effect,  I  had  made 
a  good  business  of  it ;  but  it  is  no  wonder  (nor 
can  it  be,  I  hope,  any  disrepute  unto  me)  that  I 
could  not  bring  to  pass  what  three  ambassadors 
could  not  do  before  me. 

I  am  now  casting  about  for  another  fortune,  and 
some  hopes  I  have  of  employment  about  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham.  He  sways  more  than  ever,  for 
whereas  he  was  before  a  favourite  to  the  King,  he 
is  now  a  favourite  to  Parliament,  people  and  city, 
for  breaking  the  match  with  Spain.  Touching  his 
own  interest,  he  had  reason  to  do  it,  for  the  Span- 
iards love  him  not ;  but  whether  the  public  inter- 
est of  the  state  will  suffer  in  it  or  no,  I  dare  not 
determine.  For  my  part,  I  hold  the  Spanish  match 
to  be  better  than  their  powder,  and  their  wares 
better  than  their  wars  ;  and  I  shall  be  ever  of  that 
mind,  that  no  country  is  able  to  do  England  less 
hurt  and  more  good  than  Spain,  considering  the 
large  traffic  and  treasure  that  is  to  be  got  thereby. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  291 

I  shall  continue  to  give  you  account  of  my 
courses  when  opportunity  serves,  and  to  dispose 
of  matters  so  that  I  may  attend  you  this  summer 
in  the  country.  So  desiring  still  your  blessing 
and  prayers,  I  rest  your  dutiful  son,  J.  H. 

London,  December  10,  1624. 

II 

To  R.  Brown,  Esq. 

THERE  is  no  seed  so  fruitful  as  that  of  love. 
I  do  not  mean  that  gross  carnal  love  which 
propagates  the  world,  but  that  which  preserves  it, 
to  wit,  seeds  of  friendship,  which  hath  little  com- 
merce with  the  body,  but  is  a  thing  divine  and 
spiritual.  There  cannot  be  a  more  pregnant  proof 
hereof  than  those  seeds  of  love  which  I  have  long 
since  cast  into  your  breast,  which  have  thriven  so 
well,  and  in  that  exuberance,  that  they  have  been 
more  fruitful  unto  me  than  that  field  in  Sicily 
called  /e  trecente  cariche  (the  field  of  three  hundred 
loads),  so  called  because  it  returns  the  sower  three 
hundred  for  one  yearly,  so  plentiful  hath  your 
love  been  unto  me.  But  amongst  other  sweet  fruits 
it  hath  born,  those  precious  letters  which  you  have 
sent  me  from  time  to  time,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  are  not  of  the  least  value.  I  did  always 
hug  and  highly  esteem  them,  and  you  in  them,  for 
they  yielded  me  both  profit  and  pleasure. 

That  seed  which  you  have  also  sown  in  me  hath 


292  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

fructified  something,  but  it  hath  not  been  able  to 
make  you  such  rich  returns,  nor  afford  so  plentiful 
a  crop  ;  yet  I  daresay,  this  crop,  how  thin  soever, 
was  pure  and  free  from  tares,  from  cockle  or  darn- 
ell,  from  flattery  or  falsehood,  and  what  it  shall 
produce  hereafter  shall  be  so;  nor  shall  any  injury 
of  the  heavens,  as  tempests,  or  thunder  and  light- 
ning (I  mean  no  cross  or  affliction  whatsoever)  be 
able  to  blast  and  smut  it,  or  hinder  it  to  grow  up 
and  fructify  still. 

This  is  the  third  time  God  Almighty  hath  been 
pleased  to  bring  me  back  to  the  sweet  bosom  of 
my  dear  country  from  beyond  the  seas.  I  have 
been  already  comforted  with  the  sight  of  many  of 
my  choice  friends,  but  I  miss  you  extremely,  there- 
fore I  pray  make  haste,  for  London  streets  which 
you  and  I  have  trod  together  so  often  will  prove 
tedious  to  me  else.  Amongst  other  things.  Black- 
friars  will  entertain  you  with  a  play,  "  spick  and 
span  new,"  and  the  Cockpit  with  another.  Nor  I 
believe  after  so  long  absence,  will  it  be  an  unpleas- 
ing  object  for  you  to  see,  yours,  J.  H. 

London,  January  20,  1624. 

Ill 

To  the  Lord  Viscount  Colchester 


M 


Right  Honourable, 
y  last  to  your  lordship  was  in  Italian,  with 
the    Venetian    Gazetta     enclosed.    Count 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  293 

Mansfelt  is  upon  point  of  parting,  having  obtained 
it  seems  the  sum  of  his  desires.  He  was  lodged 
all  the  while  in  the  same  quarter  of  St  James,  which 
was  appointed  for  the  Infanta.  He  supped  yes- 
ternight with  the  council  of  war,  and  he  hath  a 
grant  of  12,000  men,  English  and  Scots,  whom  he 
will  have  ready  in  the  body  of  an  army  against  the 
next  spring ;  and  they  say  that  England,  France, 
Venice,  and  Savoy  do  contribute  for  the  mainten- 
ance thereof  60,000  pounds  a  month.  There  can 
be  no  conjecture,  much  less  any  judgment  made 
yet  of  his  design ;  most  think  it  will  be  for  re- 
lieving Breda,  which  is  straitly  begirt  by  Spinola, 
who  gives  out  that  he  hath  her  already  as  a  bird 
in  a  cage,  and  will  have  her  maugre  all  the  oppo- 
sition of  Christendom.  Yet  there  is  fresh  news 
come  over  that  Prince  Maurice  hath  got  on  the 
back  of  him,  and  hath  beleaguered  him,  as  he 
hath  done  the  town,  which  I  want  faith  to  believe 
yet,  in  regard  of  the  huge  circuit  of  Spinola's  works, 
for  his  circumvallations  are  cried  up  to  be  near 
upon  twenty  miles.  But  while  the  Spaniard  is 
spending  millions  here  forgetting  small  towns,  the 
Hollander  gets  kingdoms  off  him  elsewhere.  He 
hath  invaded  and  taken  lately  from  the  Portugal 
part  of  Brazil,  a  rich  country  for  sugars,  cottons, 
balsams,  dyeing-wood,  and  divers  commodities 
besides. 

The  treaty  of  marriage  betwixt  our  Prince  and 
the  youngest  daughter  of  France  goes  on  apace, 
and  mv  Lords  of  Carlisle  and  Holland  are  in  Paris 


294  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

about  it.  We  shall  see  now  what  difference  there 
is  betwixt  the  French  and  Spanish  pace.  The  two 
Spanish  ambassadors  have  been  gone  hence  long 
since  :  they  say  that  they  are  both  in  prison,  one 
in  Burgos  in  Spain,  the  other  in  Flanders,  for  the 
scandalous  information  they  made  here  against 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  about  which,  the  day 
before  their  departure  hence,  they  desired  to  have 
one  private  audience  more,  but  His  Majesty 
denied  them.  I  believe  they  will  not  continue  long 
in  disgrace,  for  matters  grow  daily  worse  and  worse 
betwixt  us  and  Spain  ;  for  divers  letters  of  marque 
are  granted  our  merchants,  and  letters  of  marque 
are  commonly  the  forerunners  of  a  war.  Yet  they 
say  Gondomar  will  be  on  his  way  hither  again 
about  the  Palatinate,  for  the  King  of  Denmark 
appears  now  in  his  niece's  quarrel,  and  arms  apace. 
No  more  now,  but  that  I  kiss  your  lordship's 
hands,  and  rest  your  most  humble  and  ready 
servitor,  J.  H. 

London,  5  February  1624.. 

IV 

To  my  Cousin,  Mr  Roland  Guin 

Cousin, 

I   WAS  lately  sorry,  and  I  was  lately  glad,  that 
I  heard  you  were  ill,  that  I  heard  you  are  well. 
— Your  affectionate  cousin,  J.  H. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  295 


To  Tho?}ias  'J ones ^  Esq. 

Tom, 

IF  you  are  in  health,'tis  well ;  we  are  here  all  so, 
and  we  should  be  better  had  we  your  company. 
Therefore,  I  pray,  leave  the  smutty  air  of  London 
and  come  hither  to  breathe  sweeter,  where  you 
may  pluck  a  rose  and  drink  a  cillibub.  —  Your 
faithful  friend, 

J.  H. 
Kentis,  June  i,  1625. 

VI 

To  D.  C. 

THE  bearer  hereof  hath  no  other  errand  but 
to  know  how  you  do  in  the  country,  and 
this  paper  is  his  credential  letter.  Therefore,  I 
pray,  hasten  his  dispatch,  and  if  you  please  send 
him  back  like  the  man  in  the  moon,  with  a  basket 
of  your  fruit  on  his  back.  —  Your  true  friend, 

J.  H. 
London,  tbis  August  10,  1625. 


296  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

VII 

To  my  father ;  from  London 

I    RECEIVED  yours  of  the  third  of  February 
by  the  hands  of  my  cousin, Thomas  Guin  of 
Trecastle. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  be  on  Sunday  was  fort- 
night at  Theobalds,  where  his  late  majesty  King 
James  departed  this  life  and  went  to  his  last  rest 
upon  the  day  of  rest,  presently  after  sermon  was 
done.  A  little  before  the  break  of  day  he  sent 
for  the  Prince,  who  rose  out  of  his  bed  and  came 
in  his  nightgown  ;  the  King  seemed  to  have  some 
earnest  thing  to  say  unto  him,  and  so  endeavoured 
to  raise  himself  upon  his  pillow,  but  his  spirits 
were  so  spent  that  he  had  not  strength  to  make 
his  words  audible.  He  died  of  a  fever  which 
began  with  an  ague,  and  some  Scotch  doctors  mut- 
ter at  a  plaster  the  Countess  of  Buckingham  ap- 
plied to  the  outside  of  his  stomach.  It  is  thought 
the  last  breach  of  the  match  with  Spain,  which  for 
many  years  he  had  so  vehemently  desired,  took 
too  deep  an  impression  on  him,  and  that  he  was 
forced  to  rush  into  a  war  now  in  his  declining  age, 
having  lived  in  a  continual  uninterrupted  peace 
his  whole  life,  except  some  collateral  aids  he  had 
sent  his  son-in-law.  As  soon  as  he  expired  the 
Privy  Council  sat,  and  in  less  than  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  King  Charles  was  proclaimed  at  Theo- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  297 

balds  Court  Gate  by  Sir  Edward  Zouch,  Knight 
Marshal,  Master  Secretary  Conway  dictating  unto 
him  :  "That  whereas  it  hath  pleased  God  to  take 
to  His  mercy  our  most  gracious  sovereign  King 
James  of  famous  memory,  we  proclaim  Prince 
Charles  his  rightful  and  indubitable  heir  to  be 
King  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland, 
etc,"  The  Knight  Marshal  mistook, saying,  "  His 
rightful  and  dubitable  heir,"  but  he  was  rectified 
by  the  secretary.  This  being  done,  1  took  my  horse 
instantly  and  came  to  London  first,  except  one  who 
was  come  a  little  before  me,  insomuch,  that  I  found 
the  gates  shut.  His  now  Majesty  took  coach  and 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham  with  him,  and  came  to 
Saint  James.  In  the  evening  he  was  proclaimed  at 
Whitehall  Gate,  in  Cheapside,  and  other  places  in 
a  sad  shower  of  rain  ;  and  the  weather  was  suitable 
to  the  condition  wherein  he  finds  the  kingdom 
which  is  cloudy  ;  for  he  is  left  engaged  in  a  war 
with  a  potent  prince,  the  people  by  long  desuetude 
unapt  for  arms,  the  fleet  royal  in  quarter  repair, 
himself  without  a  queen,  his  sister  without  a  coun- 
try, the  crown  pitifully  laden  with  debts,  and  the 
purse  of  the  state  lightly  ballasted,  though  it  never 
had  better  opportunity  to  be  rich  than  It  had 
I  these  last  twenty  years.  But  God  Almightv  I  hope 
will  make  him  emerge  and  pull  this  island  out 
of  all  these  plunges,  and  preserve  us  from  worser 
times. 

The  plague  is  begun  in  Whitechapel,  and  as  they 
say,  in  the  same   house,  at  the  same  day  of  the 


298  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

month,  with  the  same  number  that  died  twenty- 
two  years  since  when  Queen  EHzabeth  departed. 

There  are  great  preparations  for  the  funeral,  and 
there  is  a  design  to  buy  all  the  cloth  for  mourning 
white  and  then  to  put  it  to  the  dyers  in  gross, 
which  is  like  to  save  the  crown  a  good  deal  of 
money  ;  the  drapers  murmur  extremely  at  the  Lord 
Cranfield  for  it. 

I  am  not  settled  yet  in  any  stable  condition,  but 
I  lie  windbound  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
expecting  some  gentle  gale  to  launch  out  into  an 
employment. 

So  with  my  love  to  all  my  brothers  and  sisters 
at  the  Bryn,  and  near  Brecknock,  I  humbly  crave 
a  continuance  of  your  prayers  and  blessing  to 
your  dutiful  son,  J.  H. 

London,  December  11,  1625. 

VIII 

To  Dr  Prichard 

SINCE  I  was  beholden  to  you  for  your  many 
favours  in  Oxford,  I  have  not  heard  from 
you  (ne  gry  quidem).  I  pray  let  the  wonted  corre- 
spondence be  now  revived  and  receive  new  vigour 
between  us. 

My  Lord  Chancellor  Bacon  is  lately  dead  of 
a  long  languishing  weakness ;  he  died  so  poor, 
that  he  scarce  left  money  to  bury  him,  which, 
though  he  had  a  great  wit,  did  argue  no  great  wis- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  299 

dom,  it  being  one  of  the  essential  properties  of  a 
wise  man  to  provide  for  the  main  chance.  I  have 
read  that  it  hath  been  the  fortunes  of  all  poets 
commonly  to  die  beggars  ;  but  for  an  orator,  a 
lawyer,  and  philosopher,  as  he  was,  to  die  so,  't  is 
rare.  It  seems  the  same  fate  befell  him  that  at- 
tended Demosthenes,  Seneca,  and  Cicero  (all  great 
men),  of  whom  the  two  first  fell  by  corruption. 
The  tairest  diamond  may  have  a  flaw  in  it,  but  I 
believe  he  died  poor  out  of  contempt  of  the  pelf 
of  fortune,  as  also  out  of  an  excess  of  generosity  ; 
which  appeared  as  in  divers  other  passages,  so 
once  when  the  King  had  sent  him  a  stag,  he  sent 
up  for  the  underkeeper,  and  having  drunk  the 
King's  health  unto  him  in  a  great  silver-gilt  bowl, 
he  gave  it  him  for  his  fee. 

He  wrote  a  pitiful  letter  to  King  James  not 
long  before  his  death,  and  concludes.  Help  me, 
dear  sovereign  lord  and  master,  and  pity  me  so 
far,  that  I  who  have  been  born  to  a  bag  be  not 
now  in  my  age  forced  in  effect  to  bear  a  wallet ; 
nor  1  that  desire  to  live  to  study  may  be  driven 
to  study  to  live.  Which  words,  in  my  opinion, 
argueth  a  little  abjection  of  spirit,  as  his  former 
letter  to  the  Prince  did  of  profaneness,  wherein  he 
hoped  that  as  the  Father  was  his  creator  the  Son 
will  be  his  redeemer.  I  write  not  this  to  derogate 
from  the  noble  worth  of  the  Lord  Viscount  Ver- 
ulam,  who  was  a  rare  man,  a  man  reconditae  scien- 
tiae^  et  ad  salutem  literarum  natus^  and  I  think  the 
eloquentest  that  was  born  in  this  isle.    They  say 


300  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

he  shall  be  the  last  Lord  Chancellor,  as  Sir  Ed- 
ward Coke  was  the  last  Lord  Chief-Justice  of  Eng- 
land ;  for  ever  since  they  have  been  termed  Lord 
Chief-Justices  of  the  King's  Bench,  so  hereafter 
they  shall  be  only  Keepers  of  the  Great  Seal, 
which  for  title  and  office  are  deposable,  but  they 
say  the  Lord  Chancellor's  title  is  indelible. 

I  was  lately  at  Gray's  Inn  with  Sir  Eubule,  and 
he  desired  me  to  remember  him  unto  you,  as  I  do 
also  salute  Meum  Prichardum  ex  imis  praecordiis^ 
Vale  Ke(f)aXyj  /not  7rpoa(f)LXecrToiTr].  — Yours  most 
affectionately,  while  J.  H. 

London,  January  6,  1625. 


IX 

To  my  well-beloved  Cousin,  Mr  T.  V. 

Cousin, 

YOU  have  a  great  work  in  hand,  for  you  write 
unto  me  that  you  are  upon  a  treaty  of  mar- 
riage. A  great  work  indeed,  and  a  work  of  such 
consequence  that  it  may  make  you  or  mar  you. 
It  may  make  the  whole  remainder  of  your  life 
uncouth  or  comfortable  to  you  ;  for  of  all  civil 
actions  that  are  incident  to  man,  there  is  not  any 
that  tends  more  to  his  infelicity  or  happiness. 
Therefore  it  concerns  you  not  to  be  over-hasty 
herein,  not  to  take  the  ball  before  the  bound. 
You  must  be  cautious  how  you  thrust  your  neck 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  301 

into  such  a  yoke,  whence  you  will  never  have 
power  to  withdraw  it  again,  for  the  tongue  useth 
to  tie  so  hard  a  knot  that  the  teeth  can  never 
untie,  no  not  Alexander's  sword  can  cut  asunder 
among  us  Christians.  If  you  are  resolved  to 
marry,  choose  where  you  love,  and  resolve  to 
love  your  choice  ( let  love  rather  than  lucre  be 
your  guide  in  this  election),  though  a  concurrence 
of  both  be  good,  yet,  for  my  part,  I  had  rather 
the  latter  should  be  wanting  than  the  first.  The 
one  is  the  pilot,  the  other  but  the  ballast,  of  the 
ship  which  should  carry  us  to  the  harbour  of 
a  happy  life.  If  you  are  bent  to  wed  I  wish  you 
anothergess  wife  than  Socrates  had.  And  as  I 
wish  you  may  not  light  upon  such  a  Zantippe  (as 
the  wisest  men  have  had  ill-luck  in  this  kind,  as 
I  could  instance  in  two  of  our  most  eminent  law- 
yers, C,  B.),  so  I  pray  that  God  may  deliver 
you  from  a  wife  of  such  a  generation  that  Strowd 
our  cook  here  at  Westminster  said  his  wife  was 
of,  who,  when  (out  of  a  mislike  of  the  preacher) 
he  had  on  a  Sunday  in  the  afternoon  gone  out  of 
the  church  to  a  tavern,  and  returning  towards  the 
evening  pretty  well  heated  with  canary  to  look  to 
his  roast,  and  his  wife  falling  to  read  him  a  loud 
lesson  in  so  furious  a  manner  as  if  she  would 
have  basted  him  instead  of  the  mutton,  and 
amongst  other  revilings,  telling  him  often,  that 
the  devil,  the  devil,  would  fetch  him,  at  last  he 
broke  out  of  a  long  silence,  and  told  her,  I  pri- 
thee, good  wife,  hold  thyself  content,  for  I    know 


302  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

the  devil  will  do  me  no  hurt,  for  I  have  married 
his  kinswoman.  If  you  light  upon  such  a  wife 
(a  wife  that  hath  more  bone  than  flesh)  I  wish 
you  may  have  the  same  measure  of  patience  that 
Socrates  and  Strowd  had,  to  suffer  the  gray  mare 
sometimes  to  be  the  better  horse.  I  remember 
a  French  proverb  — 

La  maison  est  miserable  et  mechante 
Ou  la  poule  plus  haut  que  le  coq  chante. 

That  house  doth  every  day  more  wretched  grow- 
Where  the  hen  louder  than  the  cock  doth  crow. 

Yet  we  have  another  English  proverb  almost 
counter  to  this,  That  it  is  better  to  marry  a  shrew 
than  a  sheep;  for  though  silence  be  the  dumb 
orator  of  beauty,  and  the  best  ornament  of  a 
woman,  yet  a  phlegmatic  dull  wife  is  fulsome  and 
fastidious. 

Excuse  me,  cousin,  that  I  jest  with  you  in  so 
serious  a  business.  I  know  you  need  no  counsel 
of  mine  herein.  You  are  discreet  enough  of  your- 
self, nor,  I  presume,  do  you  want  advice  of  parents, 
which  by  all  means  must  go  along  with  you.  So 
wishing  you  all  conjugal  joy,  and  a  happy  confar- 
reation,  I  rest,  your  affectionate  cousin, 

J.  H. 

London,  February  5,  1625. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  303 

X 

To  my  noble  Lord,  the  Lord  Clifford;  from 
London 

My  Lord, 

THE  Duke  of  Buckingham  is  lately  returned 
from  Holland,  having  renewed  the  peace 
with  the  States  and  articled  with  them  for  a  con- 
tinuation of  some  naval  forces  for  an  expedition 
against  Spain,  as  also  having  taken  up  some  mon- 
ies upon  private  jewels  (not  any  of  the  Crown's), 
and  lastly,  having  comforted  the  Lady  Elizabeth 
for  the  decease  of  his  late  Majesty  her  father  and 
of  Prince  Frederick,  her  eldest  son,  whose  disas- 
trous manner  of  death,  amongst  the  rest  of  her  sad 
afflictions,  is  not  the  least.  For  passing  over  Haar- 
lem Mere,  a  huge  inland  lough,  in  company  of  his 
father,  who  had  been  in  Amsterdam  to  look  how  his 
bank  of  money  did  thrive,  and  coming  (for  more 
frugality)  in  the  common  boat,  which  was  overset 
with  merchandise,  and  other  passengers,  in  a  thick 
fog  the  vessel  turned  over  and  so  many  per- 
ished. The  Prince  Palsgrave  saved  himself  by 
swimming,  but  the  young  prince  clinging  to  the 
mast,  and  being  entangled  amongst  the  tacklings, 
was  half  drowned  and  half  frozen  to  death  —  a  sad 
destiny. 

There  is  an  open  rupture  betwixt  us  and  the 
Spaniard,  though  he  gives  out  that  he  never  broke 
with  us  to  this  day.    Count  Gondomar  was  on  his 


304  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

way  to  Flanders,  and  thence  to  England  (as  they 
say)  with  a  large  commission  to  treat  for  a  sur- 
render of  the  Palatinate,  and  so  to  piece  matters 
together  again,  but  he  died  on  the  journey,  at  a 
place  called  Bunnol,  of  pure  apprehensions  of 
grief,  it  is  given  out. 

The  match  betwixt  His  Majesty  and  the  Lady 
Henrietta  Maria,  youngest  daughter  to  Henry  the 
Great  (the  eldest  being  married  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  and  the  second  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy)  goes 
roundly  on,  and  is  in  a  manner  concluded  ;  where- 
at the  Count  of  Soissons  is  much  discontented, 
who  gave  himself  hopes  to  have  her,  but  the  hand 
of  heaven  hath  predestined  her  for  a  far  higher 
condition. 

The  French  ambassadors  who  were  sent  hither 
to  conclude  the  business,  having  private  audience 
of  his  late  Majesty  a  little  before  his  death,  he  told 
them  pleasantly  that  he  would  make  war  against 
the  Lady  Henrietta  because  she  would  not  receive 
the  two  letters  which  were  sent  her,  one  from  him- 
self and  the  other  from  his  son,  but  sent  them  to 
her  mother  ;  yet  he  thought  he  should  easily  make 
peace  with  her,  because  he  understood  she  had 
afterwards  put  the  latter  letter  in  her  bosom,  and 
the  first  in  her  coshionet,  whereby  he  gathered 
that  she  intended  to  reserve  his  son  for  her  affec- 
tion and  him  for  counsel. 

The  Bishop  of  Lu9on,  now  Cardinal  de  Riche- 
lieu, is  grown  to  be  the  sole  favourite  of  the  King 
of  France,  being  brought  in  by  the  queen  mother. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  305 

He  hath  been  very  active  in  advancing  the  match, 
but  it  is  thought  the  wars  will  break  out  afresh 
against  them  of  the  religion,  notwithstanding  the 
ill  fortune  the  King  had  before  Montauban  a  few 
years  since,  where  he  lost  above  500  of  his  nobles, 
whereof  the  great  Duke  of  Main  was  one,  and 
having  lain  in  person  before  the  town  many 
months,  and  received  some  affronts,  as  that  in- 
scription upon  their  gates  shows,  "  Roy  sans  foy, 
ville  sans  peur"  (a  king  without  faith,  a  town  with- 
out fear),  yet  he  was  forced  to  rase  his  works  and 
raise  his  siege. 

The  letter  which  Mr  Ellis  Hicks  brought  them 
of  Montauban  from  Rochelle,  through  so  much 
danger  and  with  so  much  gallantry,  was  an  in- 
finite advantage  unto  them  ;  for  whereas  there 
was  a  politic  report  raised  in  the  King's  army 
and  blown  into  Montauban  that  Rochelle  was 
yielded  to  the  Count  of  Soissons  who  lay  then 
before  her,  this  letter  did  inform  the  contrary, 
and  that  Rochelle  was  in  as  good  a  plight  as 
ever.  Whereupon  they  made  a  sally  the  next  day 
upon  the  King's  forces  and  did  him  a  great  deal 
of  spoil. 

There  be  summons  out  for  a  Parliament.  Ipray 
God  it  may  prove  more  prosperous  than  the  for- 
mer. 

I  have  been  lately  recommended  to  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham  by  some  noble  friends  of  mine 
that  have  intimacy  with  him,  about  whom,  though 
he   hath  three  secretaries  already,  I   hope  to  have 


3o6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

some  employment,  for  I   am  weary  of  walking  up 
and  down  so  idly  upon  London  streets. 

The  plague  begins  to  rage  mightily  ;  God  avert 
His  judgments  that  menace  so  great  a  mortality, 
and  turn  not  away  His  face  from  this  poor  island. 
So  I  kiss  your  lordship's  hand,  in  quality  of  your 
lordship's  most  humble  servitor, 

J.  H. 

London,  25  February  1625, 

XI 

To  Rich.  Altham^  Esquire 

THE  echo  wants  but  a  face  and  the  looking- 
glass  a  voice  to  make  them  both  living  crea- 
tures, and  to  become  the  same  bodies  they  repre- 
sent, the  one  by  repercussion  of  sound,  the  other 
by  reflection  of  sight.  Your  most  ingenious  letters 
to  me  from  time  to  time  do  far  more  lively  re- 
present you  than  either  echo  or  crystal  can  do. 
I  mean  they  represent  the  better  and  nobler  part 
of  you,  to  wit,  the  inward  man.  They  clearly  set 
forth  the  notions  of  your  mind  and  the  motions 
of  your  soul,  with  the  strength  of  your  imagina- 
tion ;  for  as  I  know  your  exterior  person  by  your 
lineaments,  so  I  know  you  as  well  inwardly  by 
your  lines  and  by  those  lively  expressions  you  give 
of  yourself,  insomuch  that  I  believe  if  the  interior 
man  within  you  were  so  visible  as  the  outward 
(as  once   Plato  wished  that  virtue  might  be  seen 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  307 

with  the  corporal  eyes)  you  would  draw  all  the 
world  after  you  ;  or  if  your  well-born  thoughts 
and  the  words  of  your  letters  were  echoed  in  any 
place  where  thev  might  rebound  and  be  made  aud- 
ible, they  are  composed  of  such  sweet  and  charm- 
ing strains  of  ingenuity  and  eloquence  that  all  the 
nymphs  of  the  woods  and  the  valleys,  the  dryads, 
yea,  the  graces  and  muses,  would  pitch  their 
pavilions  there,  nay,  Apollo  himself  would  dwell 
longer  in  that  place  with  his  rays  and  make  them 
reverberate  more  strongly  than  either  upon  Pindus 
or  Parnassus  or  Rhodes  itself,  whence  he  never 
removes  his  eye  as  long  as  he  is  above  this  hemi- 
sphere. I  confess  my  letters  to  you,  which  I  send 
by  way  of  correspondence,  come  far  short  of  such 
virtue,  vet  are  they  the  true  ideas  of  my  mind  and 
that  real  and  inbred  affection  I  bear  you.  One 
should  never  teach  his  letters  or  his  lackey  to  lie. 
I  observe  that  rule,  but  besides  my  letters  I  could 
wish  there  were  a  crystal  casement  in  my  breast, 
through  which  you  might  behold  the  motions  of 
my  heart :  Utinamque  oculos  in  pectore  posses  in- 
cessere,  then  should  you  clearly  see,  without  any 
deception  of  sight,  how  truly  I  am,  and  how  en- 
tirely, yours,  J.  H. 
27  of  February   1625. 

And  to  answer  you  in  the  same  strain  of  verse 
you  sent  me. 

First,  shall  the  heaven's  bright  lamp  forget  to  shine. 
The  stars  shall  from  the  azured  sky  decline  ; 


3o8  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

First,  shall  the  Orient  with  the  west  shake  hand. 

The  centre  of  the  world  shall  cease  to  stand  ; 

First,  wolves  shall  league  with  lambs,  the  dolphins  fly, 

The  lawyer  and  physician  fees  deny. 

The  Thames  with  Tagus  shall  exchange  her  bed. 

My  mistress'  locks  with  mine,  shall  first  turn  red  ; 

First,  heaven  shall  lie  below,  and  hell  above. 

Ere  I  inconstant  to  my  Altham  prove. 


XII 

To  the  Right  Honourable  my  Lord  of  C ar ling- 
ford,  after  Earl  of  Carberry,  at  Golden  Grove, 
2%th  May  1625 

My  Lord, 

WE  have  gallant  news  now  abroad,  for  we  are 
sure  to  have  a  new  queen  ere  it  be  long. 
Both  the  contract  and  marriage  was  lately  sol- 
emnised in  France,  the  one  the  second  of  this 
month  in  the  Louvre,  the  other  the  eleventh  day 
following  in  the  great  Church  of  Paris,  by  the 
Cardinal  of  Rochefoucauld.  There  was  some  clash- 
ing betwixt  him  and  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  who 
alleged  it  was  his  duty  to  officiate  in  that  church, 
but  the  dignity  of  cardinal  and  the  quality  of  his 
office,  being  the  King's  Great  Almoner,  which 
makes  him  chief  curate  of  the  court,  gave  him  the 
prerogative.  I  doubt  not  but  your  lordship  hath 
heard  of  the  capitulations,  but  for  better  assurance 
I  will  run  them  over  briefly. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  309 

The  King  of  France  obliged  himself  to  procure 
the  dispensation.  The  marriage  should  be  cele- 
brated in  the  same  form  as  that  of  Queen  Marga- 
ret and  of  the  Duchess  of  Bar.  Her  dowry  should 
be  40,000  crowns,  six  shillings  apiece,  the  one 
moiety  to  be  paid  the  day  of  the  contract,  the  other 
twelve  months  after.  The  Oueen  shall  have  a 
chapel  in  all  the  King's  royal  houses  and  any- 
where else  where  she  shall  reside  within  the 
dominions  of  His  Majesty  of  Great  Britain,  with 
free  exercise  of  the  Roman  religion,  for  herself, 
her  officers  and  all  her  household,  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Mass,  the  predication  of  the  word,  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments,  and  power  to  procure 
indulgences  from  the  Holy  Father.  That  to  this 
end  she  shall  be  allowed  twenty-eight  priests  or 
ecclesiastics  in  her  house  and  a  bishop  in  quality 
of  Almoner,  who  shall  have  jurisdiction  over  all 
the  rest,  and  that  none  of  the  King's  officers  shall 
have  power  over  them,  unless  in  case  of  treason. 
Therefore  all  her  ecclesiastics  shall  take  the  oath 
of  fidelity  to  His  Majesty  of  Great  Britain.  There 
shall  be  a  cemetery  or  churchyard  close  about  to 
bury  those  of  her  family,  that  in  consideration  of 
this  marriage  all  English  Catholics,  as  well  eccle- 
siastics as  lay,  which  shall  be  in  any  prison  merely 
for  religion,  since  the  last  edict  shall  be  set  at 
liberty. 

This  is  the  eighth  alliance  we  have  had  with 
France  since  the  Conquest,  and  as  it  is  the  best 
that  could  be  made  in  Christendom,  so  I  hope  it 


3IO  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

will  prove  the  happiest.  —  So  I  kiss  your  hands, 
being  your  lordship's  most  humble  servitor, 

J.  H. 
London,  March  i,  1625. 

XIII 

To  the  Honourable  Sir  Tho.  Sa. 

I  CONVERSED  lately  with  a  gentleman  that 
came  from  France,  who.  amongst  other  things, 
discoursed  much  of  the  favourite  Richelieu,  who  is 
like  to  be  an  active  man,  and  hath  great  designs. 
The  two  first  things  he  did  was  to  make  sure  of 
England  and  the  Hollander;  he  thinks  to  have 
us  safe  enough  by  this  marriage;  and  Holland  by 
a  late  league,  which  was  bought  with  a  great  sum  of 
money;  for  he  hath  furnished  the  States  with  a 
million  of  livres  at  two  shillings  a  piece  in  present, 
and  six  hundred  thousand  livres  every  year  of  these 
two  that  are  to  come;  provided  that  the  States 
repay  these  sums  two  years  after  they  are  in  peace 
or  truce.  The  King  pressed  much  for  liberty  of 
conscience  to  Roman  Catholics  amongst  them,  and 
the  deputies  promised  to  do  all  they  could  with  the 
States  General  about  it ;  they  articled  likewise  for 
the  French  to  be  associated  with  them  in  the  trade 
to  the  Indies. 

Monsieur  is  lately  married  to  Mary  of  Bourbon, 
the  Duke  of  Monpensier's  daughter.  He  told  her 
"  That  he  would  be  a  better  husband  than  he  had 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  311 

been  a  suitor  to  her;"  for  he  hung  off  a  good 
while.  This  marriage  was  made  by  the  King,  and 
Monsieur  hath  for  his  appenage  100,000  Hvres, 
annual  rent  from  Chartres  and  Blois,  100,000 
livres  pension,  and  500,000  to  be  charged  yearly 
upon  the  general  receipts  of  Orleans,  in  all  about 
;^70,ooo.  There  was  much  ado  before  this  match 
could  be  brought  about,  for  there  were  many  op- 
posers,  and  there  be  dark  whispers  that  there  was 
a  deep  plot  to  confine  the  King  to  a  monastery, 
and  that  Monsieur  should  govern;  and  divers 
great  ones  have  suffered  for  it,  and  more  are  like 
to  be  discovered.  —  So  I  take  my  leave  for  the  pre- 
sent, and  rest,  your  humble  and  ready  servitor, 

J.H. 
London,  March  10,  1626. 


XIV 

T^o  the  Lady  'Jane  Savage,  Marchioness  of 
Winchester 

Excellent  Lady, 

I  MAY  say  of  your  Grace,  as  it  was  said  once  of 
a  rare  Italian  princess,  that  you  are  the  greatest 
tyrant  in  the  world,  because  you  make  all  those  that 
see  you  your  slaves,  much  more  them  that  know 
you,  I  mean  those  that  are  acquainted  with  your 
inward  disposition,  and  with  the  faculties  of  your 
soul,  as  well  as  the  phisnomy  of  your  face ;  for 


312  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

Virtue  took  as  much  pains  to  adorn  the  one,  as 
Nature  did  to  perfect  the  other.  I  have  had  the 
happiness  to  know  both,  when  your  Grace  took 
pleasure  to  learn  Spanish,  at  which  time,  when  my 
betters  far  had  offered  their  service  in  this  kind, 
I  had  the  honour  to  be  commanded  by  you  often. 
He  that  hath  as  much  experience  of  you  as  I  have 
had,  will  confess  that  the  Handmaid  of  God  Al- 
mighty was  never  so  prodigal  of  her  gifts  to  any, 
or  laboured  more  to  frame  an  exact  model  of  fe- 
male perfection ;  nor  was  dame  Nature  only  busied 
in  this  work,  but  all  the  Graces  did  consult  and 
co-operate  with  her,  and  they  wasted  so  much  of 
their  treasure  to  enrich  this  one  piece,  that  it  may 
be  a  good  reason  why  so  many  lame  and  defective 
fragments  of  women-kind  are  daily  thrust  into  the 
world. 

I  return  you  here  enclosed  the  sonnet  your 
Grace  pleased  to  send  me  lately,  rendered  into 
Spanish,  and  fitted  for  the  same  air  it  had  in 
English,  both  for  cadence  and  number  of  feet. 
With  it  I  send  my  most  humble  thanks,  that 
your  Grace  would  descend  to  command  me  in 
anything  that  might  conduce  to  your  contentment 
and  service  ;  for  there  is  nothing  I  desire  with  a 
greater  ambition  (and  herein  I  have  all  the  world 
my  rival)  than  to  be  accounted,  Madame,  your 
Grace's  most  humble  and  ready  servitor, 

J.  H. 

hondon J  March  15,  1626. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  313 

XV 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  Clifford 

My  Lord, 

I  PRAY  be  pleased  to  dispense  with  this  slow- 
ness of  mine  in  answering  yours  of  the  first  of 
this  present. 

Touching  the  domestic  occurrences,  the  gentle- 
man who  is  bearer  hereof  is  more  capable  to  give 
you  account  by  discourse  than  I  can  in  paper. 

For  foreign  tidings  your  lordship  may  under- 
stand that  the  town  of  Breda  hath  been  a  good 
while  making  her  last  will  and  testament,  but  now 
there  is  certain  news  come  that  she  hath  yielded  up 
the  ghost  to  Spinola's  hands  after  a  tough  siege 
of  thirteen  months,  and  a  circumvallation  of  near 
upon  twenty  miles'  compass. 

My  Lord  of  Southampton  and  his  eldest  son 
sickened  at  the  siege  and  died  at  Bergen.  The 
adventurous  Earl  Henry  of  Oxford,  seeming  to  tax 
the  Prince  of  Orange  with  slackness  to  fight,  was 
set  upon  a  desperate  work,  where  he  melted  his 
grease,  and  so  being  carried  to  the  Hague  he  died 
also.  I  doubt  not  but  you  have  heard  of  Grave 
Maurice's  death,  which  happened  when  the  town 
was  past  cure,  which  was  his  more  than  the  State's, 
for  he  was  Marquis  of  Breda,  and  had  near  upon 
thirty  thousand  dollars  annual  rent  from  her ; 
therefore  he  seemed  in  a  kind    of  sympathy  to 


314  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

sicken  with  his  town,  and  died  before  her.  He 
had  provided  plentifully  for  all  his  natural  child- 
ren ;  but  could  not,  though  much  importuned  by 
Doctor  Roseus  and  other  divines  upon  his  death- 
bed, be  induced  to  make  them  legitimate  by  marry- 
ing the  mother  of  them,  for  the  law  there  is,  that 
if  one  hath  got  children  of  any  woman,  though 
unmarried  to  her,  yet  if  he  marry  her  never  so 
little  before  his  death,  he  makes  her  honest  and 
them  all  legitimate.  But  it  seems  the  prince  post- 
poned the  love  he  bore  to  this  woman  and  children 
to  that  which  he  bore  to  his  brother  Henry,  for 
had  he  made  the  children  legitimate,  it  had  pre- 
judiced the  brother  in  point  of  command  and  for- 
tunes. Yet  he  had  provided  very  plentifully  for 
them  and  the  mother. 

Grave  Henry  hath  succeeded  him  in  all  things, 
and  is  a  gallant  gentleman  of  a  French  education 
and  temper.  He  charged  him  at  his  death  to  marry 
a  young  lady,  the  Count  of  Solme's  daughter,  at- 
tending the  Queen  of  Bohemia,  whom  he  had  long 
courted,  which  is  thought  will  take  speedy  effect. 

When  the  siege  before  Breda  had  grown  hot, 
Sir  Edward  Vere  being  one  day  attending  Prince 
Maurice,  he  pointed  at  a  rising  place  called  Ter- 
hay,  where  the  enemy  had  built  a  fort  (which 
might  have  been  prevented) ;  Sir  Edward  told 
him  he  feared  that  fort  would  be  the  cause  of  the 
loss  of  the  town.  The  Grave  spattered  and  shook 
his  head,  saying,  "  It  was  the  greatest  error  he 
had  committed  since  he  knew  what  belonged  to  a 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  315 

soldier,  as  also  in  managing  the  plot  for  surprising 
of  the  citadel  of  Antwerp,  for  he  repented  that  he 
had  not  employed  English  and  French  in  lieu  of 
the  slow  Dutch,  who  aimed  to  have  the  sole  hon- 
our of  it,  and  were  not  so  fit  instruments  for  such 
a  nimble  piece  of  service.  As  soon  as  Sir  Charles 
Morgan  gave  up  the  town,  Spinola  caused  a  new 
gate  to  be  erected,  with  this  inscription  in  great 
golden  characters : 

Philippo  quarto  regnante, 
Clara  Eugenia  Isabella  gubernante, 
Ambrosio  Spinola  obsidente, 
Quatuor  Regibus  contra  conantibus. 
Breda  Capta  fuit  Idibus,  etc. 

It  is  thought  that  Spinola,  now  that  he  hath 
recovered  the  honour  he  had  lost  before  Berghen- 
op-Zoom  three  years  since,  will  not  long  stay  in 
Flanders,  but  retire. 

No  more  now,  but  that  I  am  resolved  to  continue 
ever  your  lordship's  most  humble  servitor, 

J.  H. 

London,  March  19,  1626. 

XVI 

To  Mr  R.  Sc,  at  York 

I  SENT  you  one  of  third  current,  but  it  was  not 
answered.  I  sent  another  of  the  thirteenth  like 
a  second  arrow  to  find  out  the  first,  but  I  know 
not  what's  become  of  either.    I   send  this  to  find 


3i6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

out  the  other  two,  and  if  this  fail,  there  shall  go  no 
more  out  of  my  quiver.  If  you  forget  me  I  have 
cause  to  complain  ;  and  more,  if  you  remember 
me.  To  forget  may  proceed  from  the  frailty  of 
memory  ;  not  to  answer  me  when  you  mind  me  is 
pure  neglect,  and  no  less  than  a  piacle.  —  So  I  rest, 
yours  easily  to  be  recovered,  J.  H. 

Ira  furor  brevis,  brevis  est  mea  littera,  cogor, 
Ira  correptus,  corripuisse  stylum. 

London,  19  of  July  ^  the  first  of 
the  Dog  DaySy  1626 


XVII 

To  Dr  Fields  Lord  Bishop  of  Landaff 

My  Lord, 

I  SEND  you  my  humble  thanks  for  those  worthy 
hospitable  favours  you  were  pleased  to  give  me 
at  your  lodgings  in  Westminster.  I  had  yours  of 
the  fifth  of  this  present  by  the  hand  of  Mr  Jon- 
athan Field.  The  news  which  fills  every  corner 
of  the  town  at  this  time  is  the  sorry  and  unsuc- 
cessful return  that  Wimbledon's  fleet  hath  made 
from  Spain.  It  was  a  fleet  that  deserved  to  have 
had  a  better  destiny,  considering  the  strength  of 
it,  and  the  huge  charge  the  Crown  was  at.  For 
besides  a  squadron  of  sixteen  Hollanders,  whereof 
Count  William,  one  of  Prince  Maurice's  natural 
sons,  was  admiral,  there  were  above  four  score  of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  317 

ours,  the  greatest  joint  naval  power  (of  ships 
without  galleys)  that  ever  spread  sail  upon  salt 
water,  which  makes  the  world  abroad  to  stand 
astonished  how  so  huge  a  fleet  could  be  so  sud- 
denly made  ready.  The  sinking  of  the  Long  Robin 
with  170  souls  in  her,  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  ere 
she  had  gone  half  the  voyage  was  no  good  augury. 
And  the  critics  of  the  time  say  there  were  many 
other  things  that  promised  no  good  fortune  to  this 
fleet ;  besides  they  would  point  at  divers  errors 
committed  in  the  conduct  of  the  main  design; 
first  the  odd  choice  that  was  made  of  the  admiral, 
who  was  a  mere  landman,  which  made  the  seamen 
much  slight  him,  it  belonging  properly  to  Sir 
Robert  Mansell,  Vice- Admiral  of  England,  to  have 
gone  in  case  the  high  admiral  went  not.  Then 
they  speak  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  enterprise, 
and  that  no  place  was  pitched  upon  to  be  invaded, 
till  they  came  to  the  height  of  the  South  Cape, 
and  in  sight  of  shore,  where  the  Lord  Wimbledon 
first  called  a  council  of  war,  wherein  some  would 
be  for  Malaga,  others  for  Saint  Mary  Port,  others 
for  Gibraltar,  but  most  for  Calais  ;  and  while  they 
were  thus  consulting  the  country  had  an  alarm 
given  them.  Add  hereunto  the  blazing  abroad  of 
this  expedition  ere  the  fleet  went  out  of  the  Downs, 
for  Mercurius  Gallobelgicus  had  it  in  print  that 
it  was  for  the  Straits  mouth.  Now  it  is  a  rule  that 
great  designs  of  State  should  be  mysteries  till  they 
come  to  the  very  act  of  performance,  and  then 
they  should  turn  to  exploits.    Moreover,  when  the 


3i8  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

local  attempt  was  resolved  on,  there  were  seven 
ships  (by  the  advice  of  one  Captain  Love)  suffered 
to  go  up  the  river  which  might  have  been  easily 
taken,  and  being  rich,  it  is  thought  they  would 
have  defrayed  well-near  the  charge  of  our  fleet, 
which  ships  did  much  infest  us  afterwards  with 
their  ordnance,  when  we  had  taken  the  Fort  of 
Puntall.  Moreover,  the  disorderly  carriage  and 
excess  of  our  landmen  (whereof  there  were  10,000) 
when  they  were  put  ashore,  who  broke  into  the 
Fryers  Caves  and  other  cellars  of  sweet  wines, 
where  many  hundreds  of  them  being  surprised 
and  found  dead  drunk,  the  Spaniards  came  and 
tore  off  their  ears  and  noses  and  plucked  out  their 
eyes.  And  I  was  told  of  one  merry  fellow  escap- 
ing that  killed  an  ass  for  a  buck.  Lastly,  it  is  laid 
to  the  admiral's  charge  that  my  Lord  de  la  Ware's 
ship  being  infected,  he  gave  order  that  the  sick 
men  should  be  scattered  into  divers  ships,  which 
dispersed  the  contagion  exceedingly,  so  that  some 
thousands  died  before  the  fleet  returned,  which 
was  done  in  a  confused  manner  without  any  ob- 
servance of  sea  orders.  Yet  I  do  not  hear  of  any 
that  will  be  punished  for  these  miscarriages,  which 
will  make  the  dishonour  fall  more  foully  upon  the 
State.  But  the  most  unfortunate  passage  of  all 
was,  that  though  we  did  nothing  by  land  that  was 
considerable,  yet  if  we  had  stayed  but  a  day  or  two 
longer,  and  spent  time  at  sea,  the  whole  fleet  of  gal- 
leons from  Nova  Hispania  had  fallen  into  our  own 
mouths,  which  came  presently  in,  close  along  the 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  319 

coasts  of  Barbavy,  and  in  all  likelihood  we  might 
have  had  the  opportunity  to  have  taken  the  richest 
prize  that  ever  was  taken  on  salt  water.  Add  here- 
unto, that  while  we  were  thus  masters  of  those  seas, 
a  fleet  of  fifty  sail  of  Brazilmen  got  safe  into  Lis- 
bon with  four  of  the  richest  carracks  that  ever 
came  from  the  East  Indies, 

I  hear  my  Lord  of  Saint  David's  is  to  be  re- 
moved to  Bath  and  Wells,  and  it  were  worth  your 
lordship's  coming  up  to  endeavour  the  succeeding 
of  him.  —  So  I  humbly  rest  your  lordship's  most 
ready  servitor,  J.  H. 

London,  20  November  1626. 

XVIII 

'To  my  Lord  Duke  of  Buckingham's  Grace  at 
Newmarket 

MAY  it  please  your  Grace  to  peruse  and  par- 
don these  few  advertisements  which  I  would 
not  dare  to  present  had  I  not  hopes  that  the  good- 
ness which  is  concomitant  with  your  greatness 
would  make  them  venial. 

My  lord,  a  Parliament  is  at  hand ;  the  last  was 
boisterous,  God  grant  that  this  may  prove  more 
calm.  A  rumour  runs  that  there  are  clouds  already 
engendered  which  will  break  out  into  a  storm  in 
the  lower  region,  and  most  of  the  drops  are  like 
to  fall  upon  your  Grace.  This,  though  it  be  but 
vulgar  astrology,  is  not  altogether  to  be  contemned, 


320  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

though  I  believe  that  His  Majesty's  countenance 
reflecting  so  strongly  upon  your  Grace,  with  the 
brightness  of  your  own  innocency,  may  be  able  to 
dispel  and  scatter  them  to  nothing. 

My  lord,  you  are  a  great  prince,  and  all  eyes  are 
upon  your  actions;  this  makes  you  more  subject 
to  envy,  which,  like  the  sunbeams,  beats  always 
upon  rising  grounds.  I  know  your  Grace  hath 
many  sage  and  solid  heads  about  you  ;  yet  I  trust 
it  will  prove  no  offence  if,  out  of  the  late  relation 
I  have  to  your  Grace  by  the  recommendation  of 
such  noble  personages,  I  put  in  also  my  mite. 

My  lord,  under  favour,  it  were  not  amiss  if  your 
Grace  would  be  pleased  to  part  with  some  of  those 
places  you  hold  which  have  least  relation  to  the 
court,  and  it  would  take  away  the  mutterings  that 
run  of  multiplicity  of  offices,  and  in  my  shallow 
apprehension  your  Grace  might  stand  more  firm 
without  an  anchor.  The  office  of  High  Admiral 
in  these  times  of  action  requires  one  whole  man  to 
execute  it ;  your  Grace  hath  another  sea  of  business 
to  wade  through,  and  the  voluntary  resigning  of 
this  office  would  fill  all  men,  yea,  even  your  ene- 
mies, with  admiration  and  affection,  and  make  you 
more  a  prince  than  detract  from  your  greatness. 
If  any  ill  successes  happen  at  sea  (as  that  of  the 
Lord  Wimbledon's  lately),  or  if  there  be  any  mur- 
mur for  pay,  your  Grace  will  be  free  from  all  im- 
putations; besides  it  will  afford  your  Grace  more 
leisure  to  look  into  your  own  affairs,  which  lie 
confused  and  unsettled.    Lastly  (which  is  not  the 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  321 

least  thing),  this  act  will  be  so  plausible  that  it  may 
much  advantage  His  Majesty  in  point  of  subsidy. 

Secondly,  it  were  expedient  (under  correction) 
that  your  Grace  would  be  pleased  to  allot  some 
set  hours  for  audience  and  access  of  suitors,  and  it 
would  be  less  cumber  to  yourself  and  your  serv- 
ants, and  give  more  content  to  the  world,  which 
often  mutters  for  difficulty  of  access. 

Lastly,  it  were  not  amiss  that  your  Grace  would 
settle  a  standing  mansion-house  and  family,  that 
suitors  may  know  whither  to  repair  constantly,  and 
that  your  servants,  every  one  in  his  place,  might 
know  what  belongs  to  his  place,  and  attend  accord- 
ingly ;  for  though  confusion  in  a  great  family  carry 
a  kind  of  state  with  it,  yet  order  and  regularity 
gains  a  greater  opinion  of  virtue  and  wisdom.  I 
know  your  Grace  doth  not  (nor  needs  not)  affect 
popularity.  It  is  true  that  the  people's  love  is 
the  strongest  citadel  of  a  sovereign  prince,  but  to 
a  great  subject  it  hath  often  proved  fatal ;  for  he 
who  pulleth  off  his  hat  to  the  people  giveth  his 
head  to  the  prince  ;  and  it  is  remarkable  what  was 
said  of  a  late  unfortunate  earl,  who  a  little  before 
Oueen  Elizabeth's  death  had  drawn  the  axe  upon 
his  own  neck,  "  that  he  was  grown  so  popular  that 
he  was  too  dangerous  for  the  times,  and  the  times 
for  him." 

My  lord,  now  that  your  Grace  is  threatened  to 
be  heaved  at,  it  should  behove  every  one  that 
oweth  you  duty  and  good  will  to  reach  out  his 
hand  some  way  or  other  to  serve  you.    Amongst 


322  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

these,  I  am  one  that  presumes  to  do  it,  in  this  poor 
impertinent  paper;  for  which  I  implore  pardon, 
because  I  am,  my  lord,  your  Grace's  most  humble 
and  faithful  servant,  J.  H. 

London,  13  February  1626. 


XIX 

To  Sir  y.  S.,  Knight 

THERE  is  a  saying  which  carrieth  no  little 
weight  with  it,  that  "parvus  amor  loquitur, 
ingens  stupet  "  (small  love  speaks,  whilst  great  love 
stands  astonished  with  silence).  The  one  keeps 
a-tattling,  while  the  other  is  struck  dumb  with 
amazement;  like  deep  rivers,  which  to  the  eye  of 
the  beholder  seem  to  stand  still,  while  small  shallow 
rivulets  keep  a  noise ;  or  like  empty  casks  that 
make  an  obstreperous  hollow  sound,  which  they 
would  not  do  were  they  replenished  and  full  of 
substance.  It  is  the  condition  of  my  love  to  you, 
which  is  so  great,  and  of  that  profoundness,  that  it 
hath  been  silent  all  this  while,  being  stupefied  with 
the  contemplation  of  those  high  favours,  and  sun- 
dry sorts  of  civilities,  wherewith  I  may  say  you 
have  overwhelmed  me.  This  deep  ford  of  my 
affection  and  gratitude  to  you  I  intend  to  cut  out 
hereafter  into  small  currents  (I  mean  into  letters), 
that  the  course  of  it  may  be  heard,  though  it  make 
but  a  small  bubbling  noise,  as  also  that  the  clear- 
ness of  it  may  appear  more  visible. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  ^n 

I  desire  my  service  be  presented  to  my  noble 
lady,  whose  fair  hands  I  humbly  kiss;  and  if  she 
want  anything  that  London  can  afford,  she  need 
but  command  her  and  your  most  faithful  and  ready 
servitor,  J.  H. 

London,  ii  February  1626. 

XX 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  R. 

My  Lord, 

ACCORDING  to  promise,  and  that  portion  of 
obedience  I  owe  to  your  commands,  I  send 
your  lordship  these  few  avisos,  some  whereof  I 
doubt  not  but  you  have  received  before,  and  that 
by  abler  pens  than  mine ;  yet  your  lordship  may 
happily  find  herein  something  which  was  omitted 
by  others,  or  the  former  news  made  clearer  by 
circumstance. 

I  hear  Count  Mansfelt  is  in  Paris,  having  now 
received  three  routings  in  Germany  ;  it  is  thought 
the  French  king  will  piece  him  up  again  with  new 
recruits.  I  was  told  that,  as  he  was  seeing  the  two 
queens  one  day  at  dinner,  the  queen-mother  said, 
"  They  say  Count  Mansfelt  is  here  amongst  this 
crowd."  "  I  do  not  believe  it,"  quoth  the  young 
queen,  "  for  whensoever  he  seeth  a  Spaniard  he 
runs  away." 

Matters  go  untowardly  on  our  side  in  Germany, 
but  the  King  of  Denmark  will  be  shortly  in  the 


324  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

field  in  person ;  and  Bethlem  Gabor  hath  been  long 
expected  to  do  something,  but  some  think  he  will 
prove  but  a  bugbear.  Sir  Charles  Morgan  is  to 
go  to  Germany  with  6000  auxiliaries  to  join  with 
the  Danish  army. 

The  Parliament  is  adjourned  to  Oxford,  by 
reason  of  the  sickness  which  increaseth  exceed- 
ingly ;  and  before  the  King  went  out  of  town  there 
died  1500  that  very  week,  and  two  out  of  White- 
hall itself. 

There  is  high  clashing  again  betwixt  my  lord 
duke  and  the  Earl  of  Bristol ;  they  recriminate 
one  another  of  divers  things.  The  earl  accuseth 
him,  amongst  other  matters,  of  certain  letters  from 
Rome  ;  of  putting  His  Majesty  upon  that  hazard- 
ous journey  to  Spain,  and  of  some  miscarriages 
at  his  being  in  that  court.  There  be  articles  also 
against  the  Lord  Conway,  which  I  send  your  lord- 
ship here  enclosed. 

I  am  for  Oxford  the  next  week,  and  thence  for 
Wales,  to  fetch  my  good  old  father's  blessing  :  at 
my  return,  if  it  shall  please  God  to  reprieve  me 
in  these  dangerous  times  of  contagion,  I  shall 
continue  my  wonted  service  to  your  lordship,  if 
it  may  be  done  with  safety  ;  so  I  rest,  your  lord- 
ship's most  humble  servitor, 

J.H. 

London,  15  of  March  1626. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  325 

XXI 

To  the  Honourable  the  Lord  Viscount  C. 

My  Lord, 

SIR  JOHN  NORTH  delivered  me  one  lately 
from  your  lordship,  and  I  send  my  humble 
thanks  for  the  venison  you  intend  me.  I  ac- 
quainted your  lordship,  as  opportunity  served, 
with  the  nimble  pace  the  French  match  went  on 
by  the  successful  negotiation  of  the  Earls  of  Car- 
lisle and  Holland  (who  outwent  the  monsieurs 
themselves  in  courtship),  and  how  in  less  than 
nine  moons  this  great  business  was  proposed, 
pursued,  and  perfected,  whereas  the  sun  had 
leisure  enough  to  finish  his  annual  progress  from 
one  end  of  the  Zodiac  to  the  other  so  many  years 
before  that  of  Spain  could  come  to  any  shape  of 
perfection.  This  may  serve  to  show  the  difference 
betwixt  the  two  nations,  the  leaden-heeled  pace  of 
the  one  and  the  quicksilvered  motions  of  the  other. 
It  shows  also  how  the  French  is  more  generous 
in  his  proceedings,  and  not  so  full  of  scruples,  reser- 
vations and  jealousies  as  the  Spaniard,  but  deals 
more  frankly,  and  with  a  greater  confidence  and 
gallantry. 

The  Lord  Duke  of  Buckingham  is  now  in  Paris, 
accompanied  with  the  Earl  of  Montgomery,  and 
he  went  in  a  very  splendid  equipage.  The  Vene- 
tian and  Hollander,  with  other  States  that  are  no 


226  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

friends  to  Spain,  did  some  good  offices  to  advance 
this  alliance,  and  the  new  Pope  propounded  much 
towards  it;  but  Richelieu,  the  new  favourite  of 
France,  was  the  cardinal  instrument  in  it. 

This  Pope  Urban  grows  very  active,  not  only 
in  things  present,  but  ripping  up  of  old  matters, 
for  which  there  is  a  select  committee  appointed  to 
examine  accounts  and  errors  passed,  not  only  in 
the  time  of  his  immediate  predecessor,  but  others. 
And  one  told  me  of  a  merry  pasquil  lately  in 
Rome,  that  whereas  there  are  two  great  statues, 
one  of  Peter,  the  other  of  Paul,  opposite  one  to 
the  other  upon  a  bridge,  one  had  clapt  a  pair  of 
spurs  upon  St  Peter's  heels,  and  St  Paul  asking 
him  whither  he  was  bound,  he  answered,  "  I  ap- 
prehend some  danger  to  stay  now  in  Rome,  be- 
cause of  this  new  commission,  for  I  fear  they  will 
question  me  for  denying  my  Master."  "  Truly, 
brother  Peter,  I  shall  not  stay  long  after  you, 
for  I  have  as  much  cause  to  doubt  that  they  will 
question  me  for  persecuting  the  Christians  be- 
fore I  was  converted."  —  So  I  take  my  leave,  and 
rest,  your  lordship's  most  humble  servitor, 

J.  H. 

London,  3  May  1626. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  327 

XXII 

To  my  Brother y  Master  Hugh  Penry 

I  THANK  you  for  your  late  letter,  and  the 
several  good  tidings  sent  me  from  Wales.  In 
requital  I  can  send  you  gallant  news,  for  we  have 
now  a  most  noble  new  Queen  of  England,  who  in 
true  beauty  is  beyond  the  long-wooed  Infanta,  for 
she  was  of  a  fading  flaxen  hair,  big-lipped,  and 
somewhat  heavy  eyed  ;  but  this  daughter  of  France, 
this  youngest  branch  of  Bourbon  (being  but  in  her 
cradle  when  the  great  Henry  her  father  was  put  out 
of  the  world),  is  of  a  more  lovely  and  lasting  com- 
plexion, a  dark  brown  ;  she  hath  eyes  that  sparkle 
like  stars,  and  for  her  physiognomy  she  may  be  said 
to  be  a  mirror  of  perfection.  She  had  a  rough  pass- 
age in  her  transfretation  to  Dover  Castle,  and  in 
Canterbury  the  King  bedded  first  with  her.  There 
were  a  goodly  train  of  choice  ladies  attended  her 
coming  upon  the  bowling-green  on  Barham  Downs, 
upon  the  way,  who  divided  themselves  into  two 
rows,  and  they  appeared  like  so  many  constella- 
tions ;  but  methought  that  the  country  ladies  out- 
shined  the  courtiers.  She  brought  over  with  her  two 
hundred  thousand  crowns  in  gold  and  silver  as  half 
her  portion,  and  the  other  moiety  is  to  be  paid  at 
the  year's  end.  Her  first  suite  of  servants  (by  ar- 
ticle) are  to  be  French,  and  as  they  die  English  are 
to  succeed.    She  is  also  allowed  twenty-eight  eccle- 


328  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

siastics  of  any  order  except  Jesuits,  a  bishop  for  her 
almoner,  and  to  have  private  exercise  of  her  relig- 
ion for  her  and  her  servants. 

I  pray  convey  the  enclosed  to  my  father  by  the 
next  conveniency,  and  pray  present  my  dear  love 
to  my  sister.  I  hope  to  see  you  at  Dyvinnock 
about  Michaelmas,  for  I  intend  to  wait  upon  my 
father,  and  will  take  my  mother  in  the  way  ;  I  mean 
Oxford.  In  the  interim  I  rest  your  most  affection- 
ate brother,  J.  H. 

London,  i6  May  1616. 

XXIII 

To  my  Uncle y  Sir  Sackville  Trevor ;  from 
Oxford 

I  AM  sorry  I  must  write  unto  you  the  sad  tidings 
of  the  dissolution  of  the  Parliament  here,  which 
was  done  suddenly.  Sir  John  Elliot  was  in  the  heat 
of  a  high  speech  against  the  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
when  the  Usher  of  the  Black-Rod  knocked  at  the 
door  and  signified  the  King's  pleasure,  which  struck 
a  kind  of  consternation  in  all  the  house.  My  Lord 
Keeper  Williams  hath  parted  with  the  broad  seal, 
because,  as  some  say,  he  went  about  to  cut  down 
the  scale  by  which  he  rose;  for  some,  it  seems,  did 
ill  offices  betwixt  the  duke  and  him.  Sir  Thomas 
Coventry  hath  it  now.  I  pray  God  he  be  tender  of 
the  King's  conscience,  whereof  he  is  keeper,  rather 
than  of  the  seal. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  329 

I  am  bound  to-morrow  upon  a  journey  towards 
the  mountains  to  see  some  friends  in  Wales,  and 
to  bring  back  my  father's  blessing.  For  better 
assurance  of  lodging  where  I  pass,  in  regard  of 
the  plague,  I  have  a  post  warrant  as  far  as  Saint 
David's,  which  is  far  enough  you  '11  say,  for  the 
King  hath  no  ground  further  on  this  island.  If 
the  sickness  rage  in  such  extremity  at  London, 
the  term  will  be  held  at  Reading. 

All  your  friends  here  are  well,  but  many  look 
blank  because  of  this  sudden  rupture  of  the  Parlia- 
ment. God  Almighty  turn  all  to  the  best,  and  stay 
the  fury  of  this  contagion,  and  preserve  us  from 
further  judgments  ;  so  1  rest  your  most  affectionate 
nephew,  J.  H. 

Oxford,  6  August  1626. 

XXIV  ..,. 

To  my  Father ;  from  London 

I   WAS  now  the  fourth  time  at  a  dead  stand  in 
the  course  of  my  fortunes  ;  for  though  I  was 
recommended  to    the    duke  and    received    many 
noble  respects  from  him,  yet  I  was  told  by  some 
\     who  are  nearest  him  that  somebody  hath  done  me 
ill  offices  by  whispering  in  his  ear  that  I  was  too 
J     much  Digbyfied,  and  so  they  told  me  positively 
j     that  I  must  never  expect  any  employment  about 
him  of  any  trust.    While  I  was  in  this  suspense, 
Mr  Secretary  Conway  sent  for  me  and  proposed 


330  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

unto  me  that  the  King  had  occasion  to  send  a  gen- 
tleman to  Italy  in  nature  of  a  moving  agent,  and 
though  he  might  have  choice  of  persons  of  good 
quality  that  would  willingly  undertake  this  em- 
ployment, yet  understanding  of  my  breeding  he 
made  the  first  proffer  to  me,  and  that  I  should  go 
as  the  King's  servant  and  have  allowance  accord- 
ingly. I  humbly  thanked  him  for  the  good  opin- 
ion he  pleased  to  conceive  of  me  being  a  stranger 
to  him,  and  desired  some  time  to  consider  of  the 
proposition  and  of  the  nature  of  the  employ- 
ment; so  he  granted  me  four  days  to  think  upon 
it,  and  two  of  them  are  passed  already.  If  I  may 
have  a  support  accordingly,  I  intend  by  God's 
Grace  (desiring  your  consent  and  blessing  to  go 
along),  to  apply  myself  to  this  course  ;  but  before 
I  part  with  England  I  intend  to  send  you  further 
notice. 

The  sickness  is  miraculously  decreased  in  this 
city  and  suburbs,  for  from  5200,  which  was  the 
greatest  number  that  died  in  one  week,  and  that 
was  some  forty  days  since,  they  are  now  fallen  to 
300.  It  was  the  violentest  fit  of  contagion  that  ever 
was  for  the  time  in  this  island,  and  such  as  no  story 
can  parallel,  but  the  ebb  of  it  was  more  swift  than 
the  tide.  My  brother  is  well,  and  so  are  all  your 
friends  here,  for  I  do  not  know  of  any  of  your  ac- 
quaintance that 's  dead  of  this  furious  infection.  Sir 
John  Walter  asked  me  lately  how  you  did,  and 
wished  me  to  remember  him  to  you.  —  So  with  my 
love  to  all  my  brothers  and  sisters,  and  the  rest  of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  33^ 

my  friends  which  made  so  much  of  me  lately  in  the 
country,  I  rest  your  dutiful  son,  J.  H. 

London,  7  August  1626. 

XXV 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  Conway ^ 
Prificipal  Secretary  of  State  to  His  Maj- 
esty at  Hampton  Court 

Right  Honourable, 

SINCE  I  last  attended  your  lordship  here,  I 
summoned  my  thoughts  to  council  and  can- 
vassed to  and  fro  within  myself  the  business  you 
pleased  to  impart  unto  me  for  going  upon  the 
King's  service  to  Italy.  I  considered  therein  many 
particulars  :  First,  the  weight  of  the  employment, 
and  what  maturity  of  judgment,  discretion,  and 
parts  are  required  in  him  that  will  personate  such 
a  man ;  next,  the  difficulties  of  it,  for  one  must 
send  sometimes  light  out  of  darkness,  and  like  the 
bee  suck  honey  out  of  bad  as  out  of  good  flowers  ; 
thirdly,  the  danger  which  the  undertaker  must 
converse  withal,  and  which  may  fall  upon  him  by 
interception  of  letters  or  other  cross  casualties ; 
lastly,  the  great  expense  it  will  require,  being  not 
to  remain  sedentary  in  one  place,  as  other  agents, 
but  to  be  often  in  itinerary  motion. 

Touching  the  first,  I  refer  myself  to  your  hon- 
our's favourable  opinion  and  the  character  which 


23^  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

my  Lord  S.  and  others  shall  give  of  me ;  for  the 
second,  I  hope  to  overcome  it ;  for  the  third,  I 
weigh  it  not,  so  that  I  may  merit  of  my  king  and 
country;  for  the  last,  I  crave  leave  to  deal  plainly 
with  your  lordship  that  I  am  a  cadet,  and  have 
no  other  patrimony  or  support  but  my  breeding, 
therefore  I  must  breathe  by  the  employment. 
And,  my  lord,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  perform  what 
shall  be  expected  at  my  hands  under  one  hundred 
pounds  a  quarter,  and  to  have  bills  of  credit  accord- 
ing. Upon  these  terms,  my  lord,  I  shall  apply 
myself  to  this  service,  and  by  God's  blessing  hope 
to  answer  all  expectations.  —  So  referring  the 
pemises  to  your  noble  consideration,  I  rest,  my 
lord,  your  very  humble  and  ready  servitor, 

J.  H. 

London,  September  8,  1626. 


XXVI 

To  my  Brother^  Dr  Howell,  after  Bishop  of 
Bristol 

My  Brother, 

NEXT  to  my  father,  it  is  fitting  you  should 
have  cognisance  of  my  affairs  and  fortunes. 
You  heard  how  I  was  in  agitation  for  an  employ- 
ment in  Italy,  but  my  Lord  Conway  demurred  upon 
the  salary  I  propounded.  I  have  now  waived  this 
course.   Yet  I  came  off  fairly  with  my  lord  ;  .for  I 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  ^33 

have  a  stable  home  employment  proffered  me  by 
my  Lord  Scroop,  Lord  President  of  the  North, 
who  sent  for  me  lately  to  Worcester  House, though 
I  never  saw  him  before,  and  there  the  bargain  was 
quickly  made  that  I  should  go  down  with  him  to 
York  for  secretary,  and  his  lordship  hath  promised 
me  fairly.  I  will  see  you  at  your  house  in  Horsley 
before  I  go,  and  leave  the  particular  circumstances 
of  this  business  till  then. 

The  French  that  came  over  with  Her  Majesty, 
for  their  petulancy  and  some  misdemeanours,  and 
imposing  some  odd  penances  upon  the  Queen,  are 
all  cashiered  this  week,  about  a  matter  of  six  score, 
whereof  the  Bishop  of  Mende  was  one,  who  had 
stood  to  be  steward  of  Her  Majesty's  courts,  which 
office  my  Lord  of  Holland  hath.  It  was  a  thing 
suddenly  done,  for  about  one  of  the  clock,  as  they 
were  at  dinner,  my  Lord  Conway  and  Sir  Thomas 
Edmonds  came  with  an  order  from  the  King  that 
they  must  instantly  away  to  Somerset  House,  for 
there  were  barges  and  coaches  staying  for  them ; 
and  there  they  should  have  all  their  wages  paid 
them  to  a  penny,  and  so  they  must  be  content  to 
quit  the  kingdom.  This  sudden  undreamed  of 
order  struck  an  astonishment  into  them  all,  both 
men  and  women  ;  and  running  to  complain  to  the 
Queen,  His  Majesty  had  taken  her  before  into  his 
bedchamber,  and  locked  the  doors  upon  them  until 
he  had  told  her  how  matters  stood.  The  Queen  fell 
into  a  violent  passion,  broke  the  glass  windows,  and 
tore  her  hair  ;  but  she  was  calmed  afterwards.  Just 


334  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

such  a  destiny  happened  in  France  some  years  since 
to  the  Queen's  Spanish  servants  there,  who  were  all 
dismissed  in  Hke  manner  for  some  miscarriages. 
The  like  was  done  in  Spain  to  the  French,  there- 
fore it  is  no  new  thing. 

They  are  all  now  on  their  way  to  Dover  ;  but 
I  fear  this  will  breed  ill-blood  betwixt  us  and 
France,  and  may  b'reak  out  into  an  ill-favoured 
quarrel. 

Master  Montague  is  preparing  to  go  to  Paris  as 
a  messenger  of  honour,  to  prepossess  the  King  and 
Council  therewith  the  truth  of  things. 

So  with  my  very  kind  respects  to  my  sister,  I 
rest  your  loving  brother,  J.  H. 

London,  15  March  1616. 

XXVII 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  S. 

■  My  Lord, 

I  AM  bound  shortly  for  York,  where  I  am 
hopeful  of  a  profitable  employment.  There  is 
fearful  news  come  from  Germany,  that  since  Sir 
Charles  Morgan  went  thither  with  6000  men  for  the 
assistance  of  the  King  of  Denmark,  the  King  hath 
received  an  utter  overthrow  by  Tilly.  He  had 
received  a  fall  off  a  horse  from  a  wall  five  yards 
high  a  little  before,  yet  it  did  him  little  hurt. 

Tilly  pursueth  his  victory  strongly,  and  is  got 
over  the  Elbe  to  Holsteinland,  insomuch  that  they 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  335 

write  from  Hamburg  that  Denmark  is  in  danger 
to  be  utterly  lost.  The  Danes  and  Germans  seem 
to  lay  some  fault  upon  our  King,  the  King  upon 
the  Parliament  that  would  not  supply  him  with 
subsidies  to  assist  his  uncle  and  the  Prince  Pals- 
grave, both  which  was  promised  upon  the  rupture 
of  the  treaties  with  Spain,  which  was  done  by  the 
advice  of  both  Houses. 

This  is  the  ground  that  His  Majesty  hath  lately 
sent  out  privy  seals  for  loan  moneys  until  a  Par- 
liament may  be  called,  in  regard  that  the  King  of 
Denmark  is  distressed,  the  Sound  like  to  be  lost, 
the  Eastland  trade  and  the  staple  at  Hamburg 
in  danger  to  be  destroyed,  and  the  English  garri- 
son under  Sir  Charles  Morgan  at  Stoad  ready  to  be 
starved. 

These  loan-moneys  keep  a  great  noise,  and  they 
are  imprisoned  that  deny  to  conform  themselves. 

I  fear  I  shall  have  no  more  opportunity  to  send 
to  your  lordship  till  I  go  to  York,  therefore  I 
humbly  take  my  leave,  and  kiss  your  hands,  being 
ever,  my  lord,  your  obedient  and  ready  servitor, 

J.  H. 

XXVIII 

To  Mr  R.  L.y  Merchant 

I  MET  lately  with  J.  Harris  in  London,  and  I 
had  not  seen  him  two  years  before,  and  then 
I  took  him,  and  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  thirty, 
but  now  one  would  take  him  by  his  hair  to  be  near 


23^  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

threescore,  for  he  is  all  turned  gray.  I  wondered  at 
such  a  metamorphosis  in  so  short  a  time.  He  told 
me  it  was  for  the  death  of  his  wife  that  nature  had 
thus  antedated  his  years.  It  is  true  that  a  weighty 
settled  sorrow  is  of  that  force  that,  besides  the 
contradiction  of  the  spirits,  it  will  work  upon  the 
radical  moisture,  and  dry  it  up,  so  that  the  hair 
can  have  no  moisture  at  the  root.  This  made  me 
remember  a  story  that  a  Spanish  advocate  told  me, 
which  is  a  thing  very  remarkable. 

When  the  Duke  of  Alva  was  in  Brussels,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  tumults  in  the  Netherlands, 
he  had  sat  down  before  Hulst  in  Flanders,  and 
there  was  a  provost-marshal  in  his  army,  who  was 
a  favourite  of  his,  and  this  provost  had  put  some 
to  death  by  secret  commission  from  the  duke. 
There  was  one  Captain  Bolea  in  the  army,  who  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  the  provost's,  and  one  even- 
ing late  he  went  to  the  said  captain's  tent,  and 
brought  with  him  a  confessor  and  an  executioner, 
as  it  was  his  custom.  He  told  the  captain  that  he 
was  come  to  execute  his  excellency's  commission 
and  martial  law  upon  him.  The  captain  started  up 
suddenly,  his  hair  standing  at  an  end,  and  being 
struck  with  amazement,  asked  him  wherein  he  had 
offended  the  duke.  The  provost  answered,  Sir,  I 
come  not  to  expostulate  the  business  with  you,  but 
to  execute  my  commission.  Therefore  I  pray  pre- 
pare yourself,  for  there  's  your  ghostly  father  and 
executioner.  So  he  fell  on  his  knees  before  the 
priest,  and  having  done,  the  hangman  going  to  put 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  337 

the  halter  about  his  neck  the  provost  threw  it  away, 
and  breaking  into  a  laughter  told  him  there  was  no 
such  thing,  and  that  he  had  done  this  to  try  his 
courage,  how  he  could  bear  the  terror  of  death. 
The  captain  looked  ghastly  upon  him,  and  said. 
Then,  sir,  get  you  out  of  my  tent,  for  you  have 
done  me  a  very  ill  office.  The  next  morning  the 
said  Captain  Bolea,  though  a  young  man  of  about 
thirty,  had  his  hair  all  turned  gray,  to  the  admira- 
tion of  all  the  world  and  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  him- 
self, who  questioned  him  about  it,  but  he  would 
confess  nothing.  The  next  year  the  duke  was  re- 
voked, and  in  his  journey  to  the  court  of  Spain  he 
was  to  pass  by  Saragossa,  and  this  Captain  Bolea 
and  the  provost  went  along  with  him  as  his  domes- 
tics. The  duke  being  to  repose  some  days  in  Sara- 
gossa the  young-old  Captain  Bolea  told  him  that 
there  was  a  thing  in  that  town  worthy  to  be  seen 
by  his  excellency,  which  was  a  casa  de  locos,  a 
bedlam-house,  for  there  was  not  the  like  in  Christ- 
endom. Well,  said  the  duke,  go  and  tell  the  warden 
I  will  be  there  to-morrow  in  the  afternoon,  and  wish 
him  to  be  in  the  way.  The  captain  having  obtained 
this  went  to  the  warden  and  told  him  that  the  duke 
would  come  to  visit  the  house  the  next  day,  and 
the  chiefest  occasion  that  moved  him  to  it  was  that 
he  had  an  unruly  provost  about  him  who  was  sub- 
ject oftentimes  to  fits  of  frenzy,  and  because  he 
wisheth  him  well  he  had  tried  divers  means  to  cure 
him,  but  all  would  not  do,  therefore  he  would  try 
whether  keeping  him  close  in  Bedlam   for  some 


338  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

days  would  do  him  any  good.  The  next  day  the 
duke  came  with  a  ruffling  train  of  captains  after 
him,  amongst  whom  was  the  said  provost,  very 
shining  brave  ;  being  entered  into  the  house  about 
the  duke's  person,  Captain  Bolea  told  the  warden, 
pointing  at  the  provost,  that 's  the  man.  So  he  took 
him  aside  into  a  dark  lobby,  where  he  had  placed 
some  of  his  men,  who  muffled  him  in  his  cloak, 
seized  upon  his  gilt  sword  with  his  hat  and  feather, 
and  so  hurried  him  down  into  a  dungeon.  My  pro- 
vost had  lain  there  two  nights  and  a  day,  and  after- 
wards it  happened  that  a  gentleman  coming  out  of 
curiosity  to  see  the  house  peeped  in  at  a  small  grate 
where  the  provost  was.  The  provost  conjured  him, 
as  he  was  a  Christian,  to  go  and  tell  the  Duke  of 
Alva  his  provost  was  there  clapped  up,  nor  could 
he  imagine  why.  The  gentleman  did  the  errand, 
whereat  the  duke,  being  astonished,  sent  for  the 
warden  with  his  prisoner.  So  he  brought  my  pro- 
vost, en  cuerpo  madman-like,  full  of  straws  and 
feathers  before  the  duke,  who  at  the  sight  of  him, 
breaking  out  into  laughter,  asked  the  warden  why 
he  had  made  him  his  prisoner.  Sir,  said  the  warden, 
it  was  by  virtue  of  your  excellency's  commission 
brought  me  by  Captain  Bolea.  Bolea  stepped  forth 
and  told  the  duke.  Sir,  you  have  asked  me  oft 
how  these  hairs  of  mine  grew  so  suddenly  gray.  I 
have  not  revealed  it  yet  to  any  soul  breathing,  but 
now  I  '11  tell  your  excellency,  and  so  fell  a-relating 
the  passage  in  Flanders.  And,  sir,  I  have  been 
ever  since  beating  my  brains  how  to  get  an  equal 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  339 

revenge  of  him  ;  and  I  thought  no  revenge  to  be 
more  equal  or  corresponding,  now  that  you  see  he 
hath  made  me  old  before  my  time,  than  to  make 
him  mad  if  I  could,  and  had  he  stayed  some  days 
longer  close  prisoner  in  the  bedlam-house,  it  might 
haply  have  wrought  some  impressions  upon  his 
pericranium.  The  duke  was  so  well  pleased  with 
the  story,  and  the  wittiness  of  the  revenge,  that  he 
made  them  both  friends  ;  and  the  gentleman  who 
told  me  this  passage  said  that  the  said  Captain 
Bolea  was  yet  alive,  so  that  he  could  not  be  less 
than  ninety  years  of  age. 

I  thank  you  a  thousand  times  for  the  Cepha- 
lonia  Muscadel  and  Botargo  you  sent  me  ;  I  hope 
to  be  shortly  quit  with  you  for  all  courtesies  ;  in 
the  interim  I  am  vour  obliged  friend  to  serve  you, 

J.  H. 

York,  this  i  May  1626. 

Postscript 

I  AM  sorry  to  hear  of  the  trick  that  Sir  John 
Ayres  put  upon  the  company  by  the  box  of 
hailshot,  signed  with  the  ambassador's  seal,  that  he 
had  sent  so  solemnly  from  Constantinople,  which 
he  made  the  world  believe  to  be  full  of  chequins 
and  Turkey  gold. 


EPISTOL^    HO-ELIAN^ 
SECTION  V 


SECTION    V 


To  Dan  Caldwail^  Esq. ;  from  Tork 

My  Dear  D., 

THOUGH  I  may  be  termed  a  right  Northern 
man,  being  a  good  way  this  side  Trent,  yet 
my  love  is  as  Southern  as  ever  it  was  ;  I  mean  it 
continueth  still  in  the  same  degree  of  heat,  nor 
can  this  bleaker  air  or  boreas'  chilling  blasts  cool  it 
a  whit.  I  am  the  same  to  you  this  side  Trent  as 
I  was  the  last  time  we  crossed  the  Thames  together 
to  see  Smug  the  smith,  and  so  back  to  the  still- 
yard  ;  but  I  fear  that  your  love  to  me  doth  not 
continue  in  so  constant  and  intense  a  degree,  and 
I  have  good  grounds  for  this  fear,  because  I  never 
received  one  syllable  from  you  since  I  left  London. 
If  you  rid  me  not  of  this  scruple,  and  send  to 
me  speedily,  I  shall  think,  though  you  live  under 
a  hotter  clime  in  the  South,  that  your  former  love 
is  not  only  cooled,  but  frozen. 

For  this  present  condition  of  life,  I  thank  God, 
I  live  well  contented.  I  have  a  fee  from  the  King, 
diet  for  myself  and  two  servants,  livery  for  a  horse, 
and  a  part  of  the  King's  house  for  my  lodging,  and 
other  privileges  which  I  am  told  no  secretary 
before  me  had;  but  I  must  tell  you  the  perquisites 


344  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

are  nothing  answerable  to  my  expectation  yet.  I 
have  built  me  a  new  study  since  I  came,  wherein 
I  shall  amongst  others  meditate  sometimes  on  you 
and  whence  this  present  letter  comes.  So  with 
a  thousand  thanks  for  the  plentiful  hospitality  and 
jovial  farewell  you  gave  me  at  your  house  in  Es- 
sex, I  rest  yours,  yours,  yours,  J.  H. 

York,  13  July  iGi']. 

II 

To  Mr  Richard  Leat 

SIGNOR  mio,  it  is  now  a  great  while  methinks 
since  any  act  of  friendship,  or  other  inter- 
changeable offices  of  love  hath  passed  between  us, 
either  by  letters  or  other  accustomed  ways  of  cor- 
respondence ;  and  as  I  will  not  accuse,  so  I  go  not 
about  to  clear  myself  in  this  point,  let  this  long 
silence  be  termed  therefore  a  cessation  rather  than 
neglect  on  both  sides.  A  bow  that  lies  a  while  un- 
bent, and  a  field  that  remains  fallow  for  a  time,  grow 
never  the  worse,  but  afterwards  the  one  sends  forth 
an  arrow  more  strongly,  the  other  yields  a  better 
crop  being  recultivated.  Let  this  be  also  verified 
in  us.,  let  our  friendship  grow  more  fruitful  after 
this  pause,  let  it  be  more  active  for  the  future. 
You  see  I  begin  and  shoot  the  first  shaft.  I  send 
you  herewith  a  couple  of  red  deer  pies,  the  one  Sir 
Arthur  Ingram  gave  me,  the  other  my  Lord  Presi- 
dent's cook  ;    I  could  not  tell  where  to  bestow 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  345 

them  better.  In  your  next  let  me  know  which  is 
the  best  seasoned.  1  pray  let  the  Sydonian  mer- 
chant, J.  Bruckhurst,  be  at  the  eating  of  them,  and 
then  I  know  they  will  be  well  soaked.  If  you 
please  to  send  me  a  barrel  or  two  of  oysters,  which 
we  want  here,  I  promise  you  they  shall  be  well 
eaten  with  a  cup  of  the  best  claret  and  the  best 
sherry,  to  which  wine  this  town  is  altogether  ad- 
dicted, shall  not  be  wanting. 

I  understand  the  Lord  Weston  is  Lord  Treas- 
urer, we  may  say  now  that  we  have  treasurers  of  all 
tenses,  for  there  are  four  living,  to  wit,  the  Lords 
Manchester,  Middlesex,  Marlborough,  and  the 
newly-chosen.  I  hear  also  that  the  good  old  man 
(the  last)  hath  retired  to  his  lodgings  in  Lincoln's 
Inn,  and  so  reduced  himself  to  his  first  principles, 
which  makes  me  think  that  he  cannot  bear  up  long 
now  that  the  staff  is  taken  from  him.  I  pray  in  your 
next  send  me  the  Venitian  Gazette. —  So  with  my 
kind  respects  to  your  father,  I  rest  yours, 

J.  H. 

York,  9  July  1627. 

Ill 

To  Sir  Ed.  Sa.,  Knight 

SIR,  it  was  no  great  matter  to  be  a  prophet,  and 
to  have  foretold  this  rupture  betwixt  us  and 
France  upon  the  sudden  renvoy  of  Her  Majesty's 
servants,  for  many  of  them  had  sold  their  estates 


346  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

in  France,  given  money  for  their  places,  and  so 
thought  to  live  and  die  in  England  in  the  Queen's 
service,  and  so  have  pitifully  complained  to  that 
king  ;  thereupon  he  hath  arrested  above  lOO  of 
our  merchantmen  that  went  to  the  vintage  at  Bor- 
deaux. We  also  take  some  stragglers  of  theirs,  for 
there  are  letters  of  mart  given  on  both  sides. 

There  are  writs  issued  out  for  a  Parliament,  and 
the  town  of  Richmond  in  Richmondshire  hath 
made  choice  of  me  for  their  burgess,  though  Mas- 
ter Christopher  Wansford  and  other  powerful  men, 
and  more  deserving  than  I,  stood  for  it.  I  pray 
God  send  fair  weather  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
for  there  is  much  murmuring  about  the  restraint 
of  those  that  would  not  conform  to  loan-moneys. 
There  is  a  great  fleet  a-preparing  and  an  army  of 
landmen,  but  the  design  is  uncertain  whether  it  be 
against  Spain  or  France,  for  we  are  now  in  enmity 
with  both  those  crowns.  The  French  Cardinal 
hath  been  lately  to  the  other  side  the  Alps,  and  set- 
tled the  Duke  of  Nevers  in  the  Dutchy  of  Man- 
tua, notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  King  of. 
Spain  and  the  Emperor,  who  alleged  that  he  was  to 
receive  his  investiture  from  him,  and  that  was  the 
chief  ground  of  the  war ;  but  the  French  arms 
have  done  the  work,  and  come  triumphantly  back 
over  the  hills  again. —  No  more  now,  but  that  I 
am  as  always  your  true  friend,  J.  H. 

March  2,  1627. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  347 


IV 

To  the  Worshipful  Mr  Alderman  of  the  toiim 
of  Rich??iond,  and  the  rest  of  the  worthy  mem- 
bers of  that  ancient  corporation. 

I  RECEIVED  a  public  instrument  from  you 
lately,  subscribed  by  yourself,  and  divers  others, 
wherein  I  find  that  you  have  made  choice  of  me  to 
be  one  of  your  burgesses  for  this  now  near-ap- 
proaching Parliament.  I  could  have  wished  that 
vou  had  not  put  by  Master  Wandesfcrd  and  other 
worthy  gentlemen  that  stood  so  earnestly  for  it, 
who  being  your  neighbours  had  better  means  and 
more  abilities  to  serve  you.  Yet  since  you  have 
cast  these  high  respects  upon  me,  I  will  endeavour 
to  acquit  myself  of  the  trust,  and  to  answer  your 
expectation  accordingly  ;  and  as  I  account  this 
election  an  honour  unto  me,  so  I  esteem  it  a  great 
advantage  that  so  worthy  and  well-experienced 
a  knight  as  Sir  Talbot  Bows  is  to  be  my  colleague 
and  fellow-burgess.  I  shall  steer  by  his  compass 
and  follow  his  directions  in  anything  that  may  con- 
cern the  welfare  of  your  town  and  of  the  precincts 
thereof,  either  for  redress  of  any  grievance  or  by 
proposing  some  new  thing  that  may  conduce  to 
the  further  benefit  and  advantage  thereof,  and  this 
I  take  to  be  the  true  duty  of  a  Parliamentary  bur- 
gess, without  roving  at  random  to  generals.  1  hope 
to  learn  of  Sir  Talbot  what 's  fitting  to  be  done, 


348  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

and  I  shall  apply  myself  accordingly  to  join  with 
him  to  serve  you  with  my  best  abilities.  —  So  I  rest, 
your  most  assured  and  ready  friend  to  do  you 
service,  J.  H. 

London,  March  ia^^  1627. 


'To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  Clifford  at 
Knaresborough 

My  Lord, 

THE  news  that  fills  all  mouths  at  present  is 
the  return  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  from 
the  Isle  of  Ree,  or,  as  some  call  it,  the  Isle  of  Rue, 
for  the  bitter  success  we  had  there ;  for  we  had 
but  a  tart  entertainment  in  that  salt  island.  Our 
first  invasion  was  magnanimous  and  brave,  whereat 
near  upon  200  French  gentlemen  perished,  and 
divers  barons  of  quality.  My  Lord  Newport  had 
ill  luck  to  disorder  our  cavalry  with  an  unruly 
horse  he  had.  His  brother.  Sir  Charles  Rich,  was 
slain,  and  divers  more  upon  the  retreat.  Amongst 
others  great  Colonel  Gray  fell  into  a  salt  pit,  and 
being  ready  to  be  drowned,  he  cried  out.  Cent 
mille  escus  pour  ma  ran^oriy  "  A  hundred  thousand 
crowns  for  my  ransom."  The  Frenchmen,  hearing 
that,  preserved  him,  though  he  was  not  worth  a 
hundred  thousand  pence.  Another  merry  passage 
a  captain  told  me,  that  when  they  were  rifling  the 
dead  bodies  of  the  French  gentlemen  after  the  first 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  349 

invasion,  they  found  that  many  of  them  had  their 
mistress's  favours  tied  about  their  genitories.  The 
French  do  much  glory  to  have  repelled  us  thus, 
and  they  have  reason,  for  the  truth  is  thev  com- 
ported themselves  gallantly,  yet  they  confess  our 
landing  was  a  notable  piece  of  courage,  and  if  our 
retreat  had  been  answerable  to  the  invasion,  we  had 
lost  no  honour  at  all.  A  great  number  of  gallant 
gentlemen  fell  on  our  side,  as  Sir  John  Heydon, 
Sir  John  Burrowes,  Sir  George  Blundel,  Sir  Alex. 
Bret,  with  divers  veteran  commanders  who  came 
from  the  Netherlands  to  this  service. 

God  send  us  better  success  the  next  time,  for 
there  is  another  fleet  preparing  to  be  sent  under 
the  command  of  the  Lord  Denbigh.  —  So  I  kiss 
your  hand,  and  am  your  humble  servitor, 

J.H. 

London,  i\  of  September  1627. 

VI 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  Scroop,  Karl 
of  Sunderland,  Lord  President  of  the  North 

My  Lord, 

MY  Lord  Denbigh  is  returned  from  attempt- 
ing to  relieve  Rochelle,  which  is  reduced  to 
extreme  exigent ;  and  now  the  duke  is  preparing 
to  go  again,  with  as  great  power  as  was  yet  raised, 
notwithstanding  that  the  Parliament  hath  flown 
higher  at  him  than  ever,  which  makes  the  people 


350  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

here  hardly  wish  any  good  success  to  the  expedi- 
tion, because  he  is  general.  The  Spaniard  stands 
at  a  gaze  all  this  while,  hoping  that  we  may  do  the 
work,  otherwise  I  think  he  would  find  some  way 
to  relieve  the  town,  for  there  is  nothing  conduceth 
more  to  the  uniting  and  strengthening  of  the 
French  monarchy  than  the  reduction  of  Rochelle. 
The  King  hath  been  there  long  in  person  with  his 
cardinal,  and  the  stupendous  works  they  have  raised 
by  sea  and  land  are  beyond  belief,  as  they  say.  The 
sea  works  and  booms  were  traced  out  by  Marquis 
Spinola,  as  he  was  passing  that  way  for  Spain  from 
Flanders. 

The  Parliament  is  prorogued  till  Michaelmas 
term.  There  were  five  subsidies  granted,  the  great- 
est gift  that  ever  subjects  gave  their  king  at  once  ; 
and  it  was  in  requital  that  His  Majesty  passed  the 
Petition  of  Right,  whereby  the  liberty  of  the  free- 
born  subject  is  so  strongly  and  clearly  vindicated. 
So  that  there  is  a  fair  correspondence  like  to  be 
betwixt  His  Majesty  and  the  two  Houses.  The 
duke  made  a  notable  speech  at  the  council  table 
in  joy  hereof.  Amongst  other  passages  one  was, 
"  That  hereafter  His  Majesty  would  please  to  make 
the  Parliament  his  favourite,  and  he  to  have  the 
honour  to  remain  still  his  servant."  No  more  now 
but  that  I  continue  your  lordship's  most  dutiful 
servant,  J.  H. 

London,  25  September  1628. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  351 


VII 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lady  Scroops 
Countess  of  Sunderland;  frofn  Stamford 

Madam, 

I  LAY  yesternight  at  the  post-house  at  Stilton, 
and  this  morning  betimes  the  postmaster  came 
to  my  bed's  head  and  told  me  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham was  slain.  My  faith  was  not  then  strong 
enough  to  believe  it,  till  an  hour  ago  I  met  in 
the  way  with  my  Lord  of  Rutland  (your  brother) 
riding  post  towards  London.  It  pleased  him  to 
alight  and  show  me  a  letter,  wherein  there  was 
an  exact  relation  of  all  the  circumstances  of  this  sad 
tragedy. 

Upon  Saturday  last,  which  was  but  next  before 
yesterday  being  Bartholomew  eve,  the  duke  did 
rise  up  in  a  well-disposed  humour  out  of  his  bed, 
and  cut  a  caper  or  two  ;  and  being  ready,  and 
having  been  under  the  barber's  hands  (where  the 
murderer  had  thought  to  have  done  the  deed,  for 
he  was  leaning  upon  the  window  all  the  while),  he 
went  to  breakfast  attended  by  a  great  company  of 
commanders,  where  Monsieur  Soubize  came  unto 
him,  and  whispered  him  in  the  ear  that  Rochelle 
was  relieved  ;  the  duke  seemed  to  slight  the  news, 
which  made  some  think  that  Soubize  went  away 
discontented.  After  breakfast  the  duke  going  out. 
Colonel  Fryer  stepped  before  him,  and  stopping 


3S^  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

him  upon  some  business,  one  Lieutenant  Felton 
being  behind,  made  a  thrust  with  a  common  ten- 
penny  knife  over  Fryer's  arm  at  the  duke,  which 
lighted  so  fatally,  that  he  slit  his  heart  in  two,  leav- 
ing the  knife  sticking  in  the  body.  The  duke  took 
out  the  knife  and  threw  it  away,  and  laying  his 
hand  on  his  sword,  and  drawing  it  half  out,  said, 
"The  villain  hath  killed  me"  (meaning,  as  some 
think,  Colonel  Fryer),  for  there  had  been  some 
difference  betwixt  them,  so  reeling  against  a  chim- 
ney he  fell  down  dead.  The  duchess  being  with 
child,  hearing  the  noise  below,  came  in  her  night- 
gears  from  her  bedchamber,  which  was  in  an  upper 
room,  to  a  kind  of  rail,  and  thence  beheld  him 
weltering  in  his  own  blood.  Felton  had  lost  his 
hat  in  the  crowd,  wherein  there  was  a  paper  sowed, 
wherein  he  declared  that  the  reason  which  moved 
him  to  this  act  was  no  grudge  of  his  own,  though 
he  had  been  far  behind  for  his  pay,  and  had  been 
put  by  his  captain's  place  twice,  but  in  regard  he 
thought  the  duke  an  enemy  to  the  State,  because 
he  was  branded  in  Parliament,  therefore  what  he 
did  was  for  the  public  good  of  his  country.  Yet 
he  got  clearly  down,  and  so  might  have  gone  to 
his  horse,  which  was  tied  to  a  hedge  hard  by  ;  but 
he  was  so  amazed  that  he  missed  his  way,  and  so 
struck  into  the  pastry,  where  though  the  cry  went 
that  some  Frenchman  had  done  it,  he,  thinking 
the  word  was  Felton,  he  boldly  confessed  it  was  he 
that  had  done  the  deed,  and  so  he  was  in  their 
hands.    Jack  Stamford  would  have  run  at  him,  but 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  353 

he  was  kept  off  by  Mr  Nicholas  ;  so  being  carried 
up  to  a  tower,  Captain  Mince  tore  off  his  spurs, 
and  asking  how  he  durst  attempt  such  an  act, 
making  him  believe  the  duke  was  not  dead,  he 
answered  boldly  that  he  knew  he  was  despatched, 
for  it  was  not  he  but  the  hand  of  heaven  that  gave 
the  stroke,  and  though  his  whole  body  had  been 
covered  over  with  armour  of  proof  he  could  not 
have  avoided  it.  Captain  Charles  Price  went  post 
presently  to  the  King  four  miles  off,  who  being  at 
prayers  on  his  knees  when  it  was  told  him,  yet  he 
never  stirred,  nor  was  he  disturbed  a  whit  till  all 
Divine  service  was  done.  This  was  the  relation  as 
far  as  my  memory  could  bear,  in  my  Lord  of  Rut- 
land's letter,  who  willed  me  to  remember  him  unto 
your  ladyship,  and  tell  you  that  he  was  going  to 
comfort  your  niece  (the  duchess)  as  fast  as  he 
could.  And  so  I  have  sent  the  truth  of  this  sad 
story  to  your  ladyship  as  fast  as  I  could  by  this 
post,  because  I  cannot  make  that  speed  myself,  in 
regard  of  some  business  I  have  to  despatch  for  my 
lord  in  the  way.  —  So  I  humbly  take  my  leave, 
and  rest  your  ladyship's  most  dutiful  servant, 

J.H. 

Stamford,  August  5,  1628. 


354  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

VIII 

To  the  Right  Honourable  Sir  Peter  Wichts, 
His  Majesty's  Ambassador  at  Constanti?iople 

My  Lord, 

YOURS  of  the  2nd  of  July  came  to  safe  hand, 
and   I  did  all  those  particulars  recandos  you 
enjoined  me  to  do  to  some  of  your  friends  here. 

The  town  of  Rochelle  hath  been  fatal  and  un- 
fortunate to  England,  for  this  is  the  third  time  that 
we  have  attempted  to  relieve  her,  but  our  fleets  and 
forces  returned  without  doing  anything.  My  Lord 
of  Lindsey  went  thither  with  the  same  fleet  the 
duke  intended  to  go  on,  but  he  is  returned  with- 
out doing  any  good.  He  made  some  shots  at  the 
great  boom  and  other  barricades  at  sea,  but  at  such 
a  distance  that  they  could  do  no  hurt,  insomuch 
that  the  town  is  now  given  for  lost  and  to  be  past 
cure,  and  they  cry  out  we  have  betrayed  them.  At 
the  return  of  this  fleet  two  of  the  whelps  were  cast 
away,  and  three  ships  more,  and  some  five  ships 
who  had  some  of  those  great  stones  that  were 
brought  to  build  St  Paul's,  for  ballast  and  for  other 
uses,  within  them,  which  could  promise  no  good 
success,  for  I  never  heard  of  anything  that  pros- 
pered which  being  once  designed  for  the  honour  of 
God  was  alienated  from  that  use.  The  Queen  in- 
terposeth  for  the  releasement  of  my  Lord  of  New- 
port and  others  who  are  prisoners  of  war.    I  hear 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  3S5 

that  all  the  colours  they  took  from  us  are  hung  up 
in  the  great  church  of  Notre  Dame  as  trophies  in 
Paris.  Since  I  began  this  letter  there  is  news 
brought  that  Rochelle  hath  yielded,  and  that  the 
King  hath  dismantled  the  town,  and  razed  all  the 
fortifications  landward,  but  leaves  those  standing 
which  are  toward  the  sea.  It  is  a  mighty  exploit 
the  French  King  hath  done,  for  Rochelle  was  the 
chiefest  propugnation  of  the  Protestants  there,  and 
now  questionless  all  the  rest  of  their  cautionary 
towns  which  they  kept  for  their  own  defence  will 
yield,  so  that  they  must  depend  hereafter  upon  the 
King's  mere  mercv.  I  hear  of  an  overture  of  peace 
betwixt  us  and  Spain,  and  that  my  Lord  Cotting- 
ton  is  to  go  thither  and  Don  Carlos  Coloma  to 
come  to  us.  God  grant  it,  for  you  know  the  saying 
in  Spanish,  "  Nunca  vi  tan  mala  paz,  que  no  fuera 
mejor,  que  la  mejor  guerra."  It  was  a  bold  thing 
in  England  to  fall  out  with  the  two  greatest  mon- 
archs  of  Christendom,  and  to  have  them  both  her 
enemies  at  one  time,  and  as  glorious  a  thing  it  was 
to  bear  up  against  them.  God  turn  all  to  the  best, 
and  dispose  of  things  to  His  glory.  —  So  I  rest 
your  lordship's  ready  servitor, 

J.H. 

London,  i  September  1628. 


2S6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

IX 

To  my  Cousin,  Mr  St  Geon,  at  Christ  Church 
College  in  Oxford 

Cousin, 

THOUGH  you  want  no  incitements  to  go  on 
in  that  fair  road  of  virtue  where  you  are  now 
running  your  course,  yet  being  lately  in  your  noble 
father's  company,  he  did  intimate  unto  me  that 
anything  which  came  from  me  would  take  with  you 
very  much.  I  hear  so  well  of  your  proceedings 
that  I  should  rather  commend  than  encourage  you. 
I  know  you  were  i-emoved  to  Oxford  in  full  matu- 
rity. You  were  a  good  orator,  a  good  poet,  and  a 
good  linguist  for  your  time.  I  would  not  have  that 
fate  light  upon  you,  which  useth  to  befall  some, 
who  from  golden  students  become  silver  bachelors 
and  leaden  masters.  I  am  far  from  entertaining 
any  such  thought  of  you,  that  logic  with  her  quid- 
dities and  ^ae  la  vel  Hipps  can  any  way  unpolish 
your  humane  studies.  As  logic  is  clubfisted  and 
crabbed,  so  she  is  terrible  at  first  sight.  She  is  like 
a  gorgon's  head  to  a  young  student,  but  after  a 
twelve  months'  constancy  and  patience  this  Gor- 
gon's head  will  prove  a  mere  bugbear.  When  you 
have  devoured  the  Organon  you  will  find  philo- 
sophy far  more  delightful  and  pleasing  to  your 
palate.  In  feeding  the  soul  with  knowledge  the 
understanding  requireth  the  same  consecutive  acts 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  357 

which  nature  useth  in  nourishing  the  body.  To 
the  nutrition  of  the  body  there  are  two  essential 
conditions  required,  assumption  and  retention. 
Then  there  follows  two  more  7rei//ts  andTrpdo-rai/zt?, 
Concoction  and  Agglutination  or  adhesion.  So  in 
feeding  vour  soul  with  science,  you  must  first  as- 
sume and  suck  in  the  matter  into  your  apprehen- 
sion, then  must  the  memory  retain  and  keep  it  in, 
afterwards  by  disputation,  discourse  and  medita- 
tion. It  must  be  well  concocted,  then  must  it  be 
agglutinated  and  converted  to  nutriment.  All  this 
may  be  reduced  to  these  two  heads,  teneri ^delifer, 
^  uti  faeliciter,  which  are  two  of  the  happiest  pro- 
perties in  a  student.  There  is  another  act  required 
to  good  concoction  called  the  act  of  expulsion, 
which  puts  off  all  that  is  unsound  and  noxious,  so 
in  study  there  must  be  an  expulsive  virtue  to  shun 
all  that  is  erroneous,  and  there  is  no  science  but  is 
full  of  such  stuff,  which  by  direction  of  tutor  and 
choice  of  good  books  must  be  excerned.  Do  not 
confound  yourself  with  multiplicity  of  authors  ; 
two  is  enough  upon  any  science,  provided  they  be 
plenary  and  orthodox.  Philosophy  should  be  your 
substantial  food,  poetry  your  banqueting  stuff. 
Philosophy  hath  more  of  reality  in  it  than  any 
knowledge.  The  philosopher  can  fathom  the  deep, 
measure  mountains,  reach  the  stars  with  a  staff,  and 
bless  heaven  with  a  girdle. 

But  amongst  these  studies  you  must  not  forget 
the  unicum  necessarium.  On  Sundays  and  holidays 
let  divinity  be  the  sole  object  of  your  speculation, 


3S^  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

in  comparison  whereof  all  other  knowledge  is  but 
cobweb  \ea.vning,  prae  qua  quisquiliae  caetera. 

When  you  can  make  truce  with  study,  I  should 
be  glad  you  would  employ  some  superfluous  hour 
or  other  to  write  unto  me,  for  I  much  covet  your 
good,  because  I  am  your  afi^ectionate  cousin, 

J.H. 

London,  25  October  1627. 

X 

To  Sir  Sackvil  Trevor^  Knight 

Noble  Uncle, 

I  SEND  you  my  humble  thanks  for  the  curious 
sea-chest  of  glasses  you  pleased  to  bestow  on 
me,  which  I  shall  be  very  chary  to  keep  as  a  mon- 
ument of  your  love.  I  congratulate  also  the  great 
honour  you  have  got  lately  by  taking  away  the 
spirit  of  France  ;  I  mean  by  taking  the  third  great 
vessel  of  her  Sea-Trinity,  her  Holy  Spirit^  which 
had  been  built  in  the  mouth  of  the  Texel  for  the 
service  of  her  King.  Without  complimenting  with 
you,  it  was  one  of  the  best  exploits  that  was  per- 
formed since  these  wars  began  ;  and  besides  the 
renown  you  have  purchased,  I  hope  your  reward 
will  be  accordingly  from  His  Majesty,  whom  I  re- 
member you  so  happily  preserved  from  drowning 
in  all  probability  at  St  Anderas  Road  in  Spain. 
Though  princes'  guerdons  "come  slow,  yet  they 
come  sure.    And  it  is  oftentimes  the  method  of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  359 

God  Almighty  Himself  to  be  long  both  in  His 
rewards  and  punishments. 

As  you  have  bereft  the  French  of  their  Saint 
Esprit^  their  Holy  Spirit^  so  there  is  news  that  the 
Hollander  have  taken  from  Spain  all  her  saints  ;  I 
mean  T'odos  los  santos^  which  is  one  of  the  chiefest 
staples  of  sugar  in  Brazil.  No  more  but  that  I  wish 
you  all  health,  honour,  and  heart's  desire.  Your 
much  obliged  nephew  and  servitor,  J.  H. 

London,  26  of  October  1625. 

XI 

T^o  Captain  Tho.  B. ;  from  York 

Noble  Captain, 

YOURS  of  the  first  of  March  was  delivered 
me  by  Sir  Richard  Scot,  and  I  held  it  no  pro- 
fanation of  this  Sunday  evening,  considering  the 
quality  of  my  subject,  and  having  (I  thank  God 
for  it)  performed  all  church  duties,  to  employ  some 
hours  to  meditate  on  you,  and  send  you  this 
friendly  salute,  though  I  confess  in  an  unusual 
monitory  way.  My  dear  captain,  I  love  you  per- 
fectly well,  I  love  both  your  person  and  parts  which 
are  not  vulgar.  I  am  in  love  with  your  disposition, 
which  is  generous,  and  I  verily  think  you  were 
never  guilty  of  any  pusillanimous  act  in  your  life. 
Nor  is  this  love  of  mine  conferred  upon  you  gratis, 
but  you  may  challenge  it  as  your  due,  and  by  way 
of  correspondence,  in  regard  to  those  thousand 


36o  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

convincing  evidences  you  have  given  me  of  yours 
to  me,  which  ascertain  me  that  you  take  me  for 
a  true  friend.  Now  I  am  of  the  number  of  those 
that  had  rather  commend  the  virtue  of  an  enemy 
than  soothe  the  vices  of  a  friend  ;  for  your  own 
particular,  if  your  parts  of  virtue  and  your  infirm- 
ities were  cast  into  a  balance,  I  know  the  first 
would  much  out-poise  the  other  ;  yet  give  me 
leave  to  tell  you  that  there  is  one  frailty,  or  rather 
ill-favoured  custom,  that  reigns  in  you,  which 
weighs  much:  it  is  a  humour  of  swearing  in  all  your 
discourses,  and  they  are  not  slight,  but  deep,  far- 
fetched oaths  that  you  are  wont  to  rap  out,  which 
you  use  as  flowers  of  rhetoric  to  enforce  a  faith 
upon  the  hearers,  who  believe  you  never  the  more, 
and  you  use  this  in  cold  blood  when  you  are  not 
provoked,  which  makes  the  humour  far  more  dan- 
gerous. I  know  many  (and  I  cannot  say  I  myself 
am  free  from  it,  God  forgive  me)  that,  being  trans- 
ported with  choler,  and  as  it  were  made  drunk 
with  passion  by  some  sudden  provoking  accident, 
or  extreme  ill-fortune  at  play,  will  let  fall  oaths 
and  deep  protestations,  but  to  belch  out  and  send 
forth  as  it  were  whole  volleys  of  oaths  and  curses 
in  a  calm  humour, to  verify  every  trivial  discourse, 
is  a  thing  of  horror.  I  knew  a  king  that  being 
crossed  in  his  game  would  amongst  his  oaths  fall 
on  the  ground  and  bite  the  very  earth  in  the  rough 
of  his  passion.  I  heard  of  another  king  (Flenry 
the  Fourth  of  France)  that  in  his  highest  distem- 
per would  swear  but  ventre  de  Saint  GriSy  by  the 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  361 

belly  of  Saint  Gris.  I  heard  of  an  Italian  that, 
having  been  much  accustomed  to  blaspheme,  was 
weaned  from  it  by  a  pretty  wile  ;  for  having  been 
one  night  at  play  and  lost  all  his  money,  after  many 
execrable  oaths,  and  having  offered  money  to  an- 
other to  go  out  to  face  heaven  and  defy  God,  he 
threw  himself  upon  a  bed  hard  by,  and  there  fell 
asleep.  The  other  gamesters  played  on  still,  and 
finding  that  he  was  fast  asleep,  they  put  out  the 
candles,  and  made  semblance  to  play  on  still  ;  they 
fell  a-wrangling  and  spoke  so  loud  that  he  awoke  ; 
he,  hearing  them  play  on  still,  fell  a-rubbing  his 
eyes,  and  his  conscience  presently  prompted  him 
that  he  was  struck  blind,  and  that  God's  judgment 
had  deservedly  fallen  down  upon  him  for  his  blas- 
phemies, and  so  he  fell  to  sigh  and  weep  pitifully. 
A  ghostly  father  was  sent  for,  who  undertook  to 
do  some  acts  of  penance  for  him,  if  he  would  make 
a  vow  never  to  play  again  or  blaspheme,  which  he 
did,  and  so  the  candles  were  lighted  again,  which 
he  thought  were  burning  all  the  while  ;  so  he  be- 
came a  perfect  convert.  I  could  wish  this  letter 
might  produce  the  same  effect  in  you.  There  is  a 
strong  text  that  the  curse  of  heaven  hangs  always 
over  the  dwelling  of  the  swearer,  and  you  have 
more  fearful  examples  of  miraculous  judgments  in 
this  particular  than  of  any  other  sin. 

There  is  a  little  town  in  Languedoc  in  France 
that  hath  a  multitude  of  the  pictures  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  up  and  down,  but  she  is  made  to  carry  Christ 
in  her  right  hand,  contrary  to  the  ordinary  custom  ; 


362  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

and  the  reason  they  told  me  was  this,  that  two 
gamesters  being  at  play,  and  one  having  lost  all  his 
money,  and  bolted  out  many  blasphemies,  he  gave 
a  deep  oath  that  that  whore  upon  the  wall,  mean- 
ing the  picture  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  was  the  cause 
of  his  ill  luck ;  hereupon  the  child  removed  im- 
perceptibly from  the  left  arm  to  the  right,  and 
the  man  fell  stark  dumb  ever  after  it.  Thus  went 
the  tradition  there.  This  makes  me  think  upon  the 
Lady  Southwel's  news  from  Utopia,  that  he  who 
sweareth  when  he  playeth  at  dice  may  challenge  his 
damnation  by  way  of  purchase.  This  infamous 
custom  of  swearing  I  observe  reigns  in  England 
lately  more  than  anywhere  else,  though  a  German 
in  his  highest  puff  of  passion  swears  a  hundred 
thousand  Sacraments,  the  Italian  by  the  whore  of 
God,  the  French  by  his  death,  the  Spaniard  by  his 
flesh,  the  Welshman  by  his  sweat,  the  Irishman  by 
his  five  wounds,  though  the  Scot  commonly  bids 
the  devil  heal  his  soul,  yet  for  variety  of  oaths  the 
English  roarers  put  down  all.  Consider  well  what 
a  dangerous  thing  it  is  to  tear  in  pieces  that  dread- 
ful name  which  makes  the  vast  fabric  of  the  world 
to  tremble,  that  holy  name  wherein  the  whole 
hierarchy  of  heaven  doth  triumph,  that  blissful 
name  wherein  consists  the  fulness  of  all  felicity. 
1  know  this  custom  in  you  yet  is  but  a  light  dis- 
position ;  it  is  no  habit  I  hope.  Let  me  therefore 
conjure  you  by  that  power  of  friendship,  by  that 
holy  league  of  love  which  is  between  us,  that  you 
would  suppress  it  before  it  come  to  that,  for  I  must 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  2(>3 

tell  vou  that  those  who  could  find  in  their  hearts 
to  love  vou  for  many  other  things  do  disrespect 
you  for  this  ;  they  hate  your  company,  and  give 
no  credit  to  whatsoever  you  say,  it  being  one  of 
the  punishments  of  a  swearer  as  well  as  of  a  liar 
not  to  be  believed  when  he  speaks  truth. 

Excuse  me  that  I  am  so  free  with  you  ;  what 
I  write  proceeds  from  the  clear  current  of  a  pure 
affection,  and  I  shall  heartily  thank  you,  and  take 
it  for  an  argument  of  love,  if  you  tell  me  of  my 
weaknesses,  which  are  (God  wot)  too  too  many  ; 
for  my  body  is  but  a  cargazon  of  corrupt  humours, 
and  being  not  able  to  overcome  them  all  at  once, 
I  do  endeavour  to  do  it  by  degrees,  like  Sertorius, 
his  soldier,  who  when  he  could  not  cut  off  the 
horse  tail  with  his  sword  at  one  blow,  fell  to  pull 
out  the  hairs  one  by  one.  And  touching  this  par- 
ticular humour  from  which  I  dissuade  you,  it  hath 
raged  in  me  too  often  by  contingent  fits,  but  I 
thank  God  for  it  I  find  it  much  abated  and  purged. 
Now  the  only  physic  I  used  was  a  precedent  fast, 
and  recourse  to  the  Holy  Sacrament  the  next  day, 
of  purpose  to  implore  pardon  for  what  had  passed, 
and  power  for  the  future  to  quell  those  exorbitant 
motions,  those  ravings  and  feverish  fits  of  the 
soul,  in  regard  there  are  no  infirmities  more  dan- 
gerous, for  at  the  same  instant  they  have  being 
they  become  impieties.  And  the  greatest  symptom 
of  amendment  I  find  in  me  is,  because  whensoever 
I  hear  the  holy  name  of  God  blasphemed  by  any 
other,  it  makes  my  heart  to   tremble  within  my 


3^4 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS 


breast.  Now  it  is  a  penitential  rule,  that  if  sins 
present  do  not  please  thee,  sins  passed  will  not  hurt 
thee.  All  other  sins  have  for  their  object  either 
pleasure  or  profit,  or  some  aim  and  satisfaction  to 
body  or  mind,  but  this  hath  none  at  all,  therefore 
fie  upon  it,  my  dear  captain,  try  whether  you  can 
make  a  conquest  of  yourself  in  subduing  this 
execrable  custom.  Alexander  subdued  the  world, 
C^sar  his  enemies,  Hercules  monsters,  but  he  that 
overcomes  himself  is  the  true  valiant  captain.  I 
have  herewith  sent  you  a  hymn  consonant  to  this 
subject,  because  I  know  you  are  musical  and  a 
good  poet. 


A  gradual  Hymn  of  a  double 
of  the  Holy 

I.  Let  the  vast  universe. 

And  therein  everything. 
The  mighty  acts  rehearse 
Of  their  immortal  King, 
His  name  extol 
What  to  Nadir 
From  zenith  stir 
'Twrixt  pole  and  pole. 


cadence  ^tending  to  the  Honour 
Name  of  God 

3.  Earth  which  the  centre  art 

And  only  standest  still. 
Yet  move,  and  bear  thy  part; 
Resound  vv^ith  echoes  shrill. 
Thy  mines  of  gold. 
With  precious  stones. 
And  unions. 
His  fame  uphold. 


2,  Ye  elements  that  move. 

And  alter  every  hour. 
Yet  herein  constant  prove. 
And  symbolise  all  four. 
His  praise  to  tell. 
Mix  all  in  one. 
For  air  and  tone 
To  sound  this  peal. 


4.  Let  all  thy  fragrant  flowers 
Grow  sweeter  by  this  air. 
Thy  tallest  trees  and  bowers 
Bud  forth  and  blossom  fair, 
Beasts,  wild  and  tame. 
Whom  lodgings  yield 
House,  dens  or  field, 
Collaud  His  name. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL 


3^5 


5.  Ye  seas  with  earth  that  make 
One    globe    flow    high   and 

swell. 
Exalt  your  Maker's  name. 
In  deep  His  wonders  tell : 
Leviathan, 
And  what  doth  swim. 
Near  bank  or  brim, 
His  glory  scan. 

6.  Ye  airy  regions  all 
Join  in  a  sweet  consent. 

Blow  such  a  madrigal 

May  reach  the  firmament. 
Winds,  hail,  ice,  snow. 
And  pearly  drops. 
That  hang  on  crops. 
His  wonders  show. 

7.  Pure  element  of  fire 
With  holy  sparks  inflame 

This  sublunary  choir. 

That  all  one  concert  frame. 
Their  spirits  raise. 
To  trumpet  forth 
Their  Maker's  worth. 
And  sound  His  praise. 

8.  Ye  glorious  lamps  that  roll 
In  your  celestial  spheres 

All  under  His  control. 

Who  you  on  poles  upbears. 
Him  magnify. 
Ye  planets    bright. 
And  fixed  lights 
That  deck  the  sky. 


9.  O  Heaven,  Crystalline, 
Which  by  thy  watery  hue 

Dost  temper  and  refine 
The  rest  in  azured  blue. 
His  glory  sound 
Thou  first  mobile 
Which  makest  all  wheel 
In  circle  round. 

10.  Ye  glorious  souls  who  reign 
In  sempiternal  joy. 

Free  from  those  cares  and  pain 
Which  here  did  you  annoy. 
And  Him  behold 
In  whom  all  bliss 
Concentred  is. 
His  laud  unfold. 

1 1 .  Blest  maid  which  dost  sur- 

mount 
All  saints  and  seraphims. 
And  reignest  as  paramount 
And  chief  of  cherubims. 
Chant  out  His  praise 
Who  in  thy  womb 
Nine  months  took  room 
Though      crowned     with 
rays. 

I  2 .  Oh  let  my  soul  and  heart. 

My  mind  and  memory 
Bear  in  this  hymn  a  part. 

And  join  with  earth  and  sky. 
Let  every  wight. 
The  whole  world  o'er 
Laud  and  adore 
The  Lord  of  light. 


1,66  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

All  your  friends  here  are  well,  Tom  Young 
excepted,  who  I  fear  hath  not  long  to  live  amongst 
us. —  So  I  rest  your  true  friend,  J.  H. 

York,  the  i  of  August  1628. 


XII 

To  Will.  Austin,  Esq. 

I  HAVE  many  thanks  to  give  you  for  that  ex- 
cellent poem  you  sent  me  upon  the  passion 
of  Christ.  Surely  you  were  possessed  with  a  very 
strong  spirit  when  you  penned  it ;  you  were 
become  a  true  enthusiast.  For,  let  me  despair  if 
I  lie  unto  you,  all  the  while  I  was  perusing  it  it 
committed  holy  rapes  upon  my  soul.  Methought 
I  felt  my  heart  melting  within  my  breast,  and  my 
thoughts  transported  to  a  true  elysium  all  the  while, 
there  were  such  flexanimous  strong  ravishing  strains 
throughout  it.  To  deal  plainly  with  you,  it  were 
an  injury  to  the  public  good  not  to  expose  to  open 
light  such  divine  raptures,  for  they  have  an  edifying 
power  in  them,  and  may  be  termed  the  very  quint- 
essence of  devotion.  You  discover  in  them  what 
rich  talent  you  have,  which  should  not  be  buried 
within  the  walls  of  a  private  study,  or  pass  through 
a  few  particular  hands,  but  appear  in  public  view  and 
to  the  sight  of  the  world,  to  the  enriching  of  oth- 
ers, as  they  did  me  in  reading  them.  Therefore 
I  shall  long  to  see  them  pass  from  the  Bankside  to 
Paul's  Churchyard,  with  other  precious  pieces  of 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  367 

yours  which  you  have  pleased  to  impart  unto  me. 
— Your  most  affectionate  servitor,  J.  H. 

Oxford,  20  August  1628. 

XIII 

To  Sir  I.  S.,  Knight 

YOU  wrote  to  me  lately  for  a  footman,  and  I 
think  this  bearer  will  suit  you.  I  know  he 
can  run  well,  for  he  hath  run  away  twice  from  me, 
but  he  knew  the  way  back  again  ;  yet  though  he 
hath  a  running  head  as  well  as  running  heels  (and 
who  will  expect  a  footman  to  be  a  staid  man  ?)  I 
would  not  part  with  him  were  I  not  to  go  post  to 
the  north.  There  be  some  things  in  him  that 
answer  for  his  waggeries.  He  will  come  when  you 
call  him,  go  when  you  bid  him,  and  shut  the  door 
after  him.  He  is  faithful  and  stout,  and  a  lover 
of  his  master.  He  is  a  great  enemy  to  all  dogs 
if  they  bark  at  him  in  his  running,  for  I  have  seen 
him  confront  a  huge  mastiff  and  knock  him  down. 
When  you  go  a  country  journey,  or  have  him  run 
with  you  a-hunting  you  must  spirit  him  with  liquor ; 
you  must  allow  him  also  something  extraordinary 
for  socks,  else  you  must  not  have  him  to  wait  at 
your  table  ;  when  his  grease  melts  in  running  hard 
it  is  subject  to  fall  into  his  toes.  I  send  him  you 
but  for  trial.  If  he  be  not  for  your  turn,  turn  him 
over  to  me  again  when  I  come  back. 

The  best  news  I  can  send  you  at  this  time  is  that 


368  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

we  are  like  to  have  peace  both  with  France  and 
Spain,  so  that  Harwich  men,  your  neighbours,  shall 
not  hereafter  need  to  fear  the  name  of  Spinola,  who 
struck  such  an  apprehension  into  them  lately  that 
I  understand  they  begin  to  fortify. 

I  pray  present  my  most  humble  service  to  my 
good  lady,  and  at  my  return  from  the  North  I  will 
be  bold  to  kiss  her  hands  and  yours. —  So  I  am, 
your  much  obliged  servitor,  J.  H. 

London,  25  of  May  1628. 

XIV 

T^o  ?fiy  Father 

OUR  two  younger  brothers,  which  you  sent 
hither,  are  disposed  of  My  brother  doctor 
hath  placed  the  elder  of  the  two  with  Mr  Hawes, 
a  mercer  in  Cheapside,  and  he  took  much  pains 
in  it,  and  I  had  placed  my  brother  Ned  with  Mr 
Harrington,  a  silk-man  in  the  same  street,  but 
afterwards,  for  some  inconveniences,  I  removed 
him  to  one  Mr  Smith,  at  the  Flower-de-Luce,  in 
Lombard  Street,  a  mercer  also.  Their  masters  are 
both  of  them  very  well  to  pass,  and  of  good  repute. 
I  think  it  will  prove  some  advantage  to  them  here- 
after to  be  both  of  one  trade,  because  when  they 
are  out  of  their  time  they  may  join  stocks  together. 
So  that  I  hope,  sir,  they  are  as  well  placed  as  any 
two  youths  in  London,  but  you  must  not  use  to 
send  them  such  large  tokens  in  money,  for  that 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  369 

may  corrupt  them.  When  I  went  to  bind  my 
brother  Ned  apprentice  in  Drapers'  Hall,  casting 
my  eyes  upon  the  chimneypiece  of  the  great  room 
I  spied  a  picture  of  an  ancient  gentleman,  and 
underneath  Thomas  Howell.  I  asked  the  clerk 
about  him,  and  he  told  me  that  he  had  been  a 
Spanish  merchant  in  Henry  VIII's  time,  and 
coming  home  rich,  and  dying  a  bachelor,  he  gave 
that  hall  to  the  Company  of  Drapers,  with  other 
things,  so  that  he  is  accounted  one  of  their  chief- 
est  benefactors.  1  told  the  clerk  that  one  of  the 
sons  of  Thomas  Howell  came  now  hither  to  be 
bound.  He  answered  that  if  he  be  a  right  Howell, 
he  may  have  when  he  is  free  three  hundred  pounds 
to  help  to  set  up,  and  pay  no  interest  for  five 
years.  It  may  be  hereafter  we  may  make  use  of 
this.  He  told  me  also  that  any  maid  that  can  prove 
her  father  to  be  a  true  Howell  may  come  and  de- 
mand fifty  pounds  towards  her  portion  of  the  said 
hall.  I  am  to  go  post  towards  York  to-morrow  to 
my  charge,  but  hope,  God  willing,  to  be  here  again 
the  next  term.  —  So,  with  my  love  to  my  brother 
Howell,  and  my  sister  his  wife,  I  rest  your  dutiful 
son,  J.  H. 

London,  30  September  1629. 


370  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 


XV 

To  my  Brother  J  Dr  Howell,  at  Jesus  College, 
in  Oxon 

BROTHER,  I  have  sent  you  here  enclosed 
warrants  for  four  brace  of  bucks  and  a  stag, 
the  last  Sir  Arthur  Manwaring  procured  of  the 
King  for  you  towards  the  keeping  of  your  act.  I 
have  sent  you  also  a  warrant  for  a  brace  of  bucks 
out  of  Waddon  chase ;  besides,  you  shall  receive 
by  this  carrier  a  great  wicker  hamper  with  two 
geoules  of  sturgeon,  six  barrels  of  pickled  oysters, 
three  barrels  of  Bologna  olives,  with  some  other 
Spanish  commodities. 

My  Lord  President  of  the  north  hath  lately 
made  me  patron  of  a  living  hard  by  Henley,  called 
Hambledon.  It  is  worth  five  hundred  pounds 
a  year  communibus  annis,  and  the  now  incumbent, 
Dr  Pilkington,  is  very  aged,  valetudinary,  and 
corpulent.  My  lord  by  legal  instrument  hath  trans- 
mitted the  next  advowson  to  me  for  satisfaction  of 
some  arrearages.  Dr  Dommlaw  and  two  or  three 
more  have  been  with  me  about  it,  but  I  always 
intended  to  make  the  first  proffer  to  you;  there- 
fore, I  pray,  think  of  it.  A  sum  of  money  must 
be  had,  but  you  shall  be  at  no  trouble  for  that  if 
you  only  will  secure  it  (and  desire  one  more  who 
I  know  will  do  it  for  you),  and  it  shall  appear 
unto  you  that  you  have  it  upon  far  better  terms 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  371 

than  any  other.  It  is  as  finely  situated  as  any  rec- 
tory can  be,  for  it  is  about  the  midway  betwixt  Ox- 
ford and  London.  It  lies  upon  the  Thames,  and 
the  glebeland  house  is  very  large  and  fair,  and  not 
dilapidated,  so  that  considering  all  things  it  is  as 
good  as  some  bishoprics.  I  know  His  Majesty  is 
gracious  unto  you,  and  you  may  well  expect  some 
preferment  that  way,  but  such  livings  as  these  are 
not  to  be  had  everywhere.  I  thank  you  for  invit- 
ing me  to  your  act.  I  will  be  with  you  next  week, 
God  willing,  and  hope  to  find  my  father  there.  — 
So,  with  my  kind  love  to  Dr  Mansel,  Mr  Wat- 
kins,  Mr  Madocks,  and  Mr  Napier  at  All  Souls', 
I  rest  your  loving  brother,  J.   H. 

London,  20  June  1628. 

XVI 

'To  my  Father,  Mr  Ben.  'Johnson 

FATHER  ^¥.^  .^  Nullum  Jit  magnum  ingenium 
sine  mixtura  dementiae,  there  is  no  great  wit 
without  some  mixture  of  madness,  so  saith  the 
philosopher,  nor  was  he  a  fool  who  answered,  nee 
parvum,  sine  mixtura  stultitiae^  nor  small  wit  without 
some  allay  of  foolishness.  Touching  the  first  it  is 
verified  in  you,  for  I  find  that  you  have  been  often- 
times mad.  You  were  mad  when  you  wrote  your 
"  Fox,"  and  madder  when  you  wrote  your 
"  Alchemist ; "  you  were  mad  when  you  wrote 
"  Catilin,"     and      stark     mad    when     vou     wrote 


372  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

"  Sejanus  ;  "  but  when  you  wrote  your  "  Epi- 
grams" and  the  "  Magnetic  Lady"  you  were  not 
so  mad.  Insomuch  that  I  perceive  there  be 
degrees  of  madness  in  you.  Excuse  me  that  I  am 
so  free  with  you.  The  madness  I  mean  is  that 
divine  fury,  that  heating  and  heightening  spirit 
which  Ovid  speaks  of. 

Est  Deus  in  nobis  agetante  calescimus  illo  :  that 
true  enthusiasm  which  transports  and  elevates  the 
souls  of  poets  above  the  middle  region  of  vulgar 
conceptions,  and  makes  them  soar  up  to  heaven 
to  touch  the  stars  with  their  laurelled  heads,  to 
walk  in  the  Zodiac  with  Apollo  himself,  and  com- 
mand Mercury  upon  their  errand. 

I  cannot  yet  light  upon  Doctor  Davies'  Welsh 
grammar.  Before  Christmas  I  am  promised  one. 
So  desiring  you  to  look  better  hereafter  to  your 
charcoal  fire  and  chimney,  which  I  am  glad  to  be 
one  that  preserved  it  from  burning  ;  this  being  the 
second  time  that  Vulcan  hath  threatened  you,  it 
may  be  because  you  have  spoken  ill  of  his  wife, 
and  been  too  busy  with  his  horns.  —  I  rest  your 
son,  and  contiguous  neighbour, 

J.H. 

Westminster,  27  June  1629. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  373 

XVII 

To  Sir  Arthur  Ingrajji,  at  his  house  in  York 

I  HAVE  sent  you  herewith  a  hamper  of  melons, 
the  best  I  could  find  in  any  of  Tothillfield  gar- 
dens, and  with  them  my  very  humble  service  and 
thanks  for  all  favours,  and  lately  for  inviting  me 
to  your  new  noble  house  at  Temple  Newsam 
when  I  return  to  Yorkshire.  To  this  I  may 
answer  you  as  my  Lord  Coke  was  answered  by  a 
Norfolk  countryman  who  had  a  suit  depending  in 
the  King's  Bench  against  some  neighbours  touch- 
ing a  river  that  used  to  annoy  him,  and  Sir  Edward 
Coke  asking  how  he  called  the  river,  he  answered, 
"  My  Lord,  I  need  not  call  her,  for  she  is  forward 
enough  to  come  of  herself."  So  I  may  say  that 
you  need  not  call  me  to  any  house  of  yours,  for 
I  am  forward  enough  to  come  without  calling. 

My  Lord  President  is  still  indisposed  at  Dr 
Nappier's,  yet  he  wrote  to  me  lately  that  he  hopes 
to  be  at  the  next  sitting  in  York.  —  So  with  a  ten- 
der of  my  most  humble  service  to  my  noble  good 
ladv,  I  rest  your  much  obliged  servant, 

J.  H. 
London,  25  July  i62g. 


374  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XVIII 

To  R.  S.,  Esq. 

I  AM  one  of  them  who  value  not  a  courtesy 
that  hangs  long  betwixt  the  fingers.  I  love  not 
those  viscosa  beneficia,  those  bird-limed  kindnesses 
which  Pliny  speaks  of;  nor  would  I  receive  money 
in  a  dirty  clout,  if  possibly  I  could  be  without  it. 
Therefore  I  return  you  the  courtesy  by  the  same 
hand  that  brought  it.  It  might  have  pleasured  me 
at  first,  but  the  expectation  of  it  hath  prejudiced 
me,  and  now  perhaps  you  may  have  more  need  of 
it  than  your  humble  servitor,  J.  H. 

Westminster,  3  August  1629. 


XIX 

To  the  Countess  of  Sunderland  at  York 

Madame, 
Y  lord  continues  still  in  acourseof  physic  at 


M 


Dr  Nappier's.  I  wrote  to  him  lately  that 
his  lordship  would  please  to  come  to  his  own  house 
here  in  St  Martin's  Lane,  where  there  is  a  greater 
accommodation  for  the  recovery  of  his  health,  Dr 
Mayern  being  on  the  one  side,  and  the  King's 
apothecary  on  the  other  ;  but  I  fear  there  be  some 
mountebanks  that  carry  him  away,  and  I  hear  he 
intends  to  remove  to  Wickham  to  one  Atkinson,  a 
mere  quack-salver,  that  was  once  D.  Lopez's  man. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  375 

The  little  knight  that  useth  to  draw  up  his 
breeches  with  a  shoeing-horn,  I  mean  Sir  Posthu- 
mus  Hobby,  flew  high  at  him  this  Parliament,  and 
would  have  inserted  his  name  in  the  scroll  of  recu- 
sants that  is  shortly  to  be  presented  to  the  King, 
but  I  produced  a  certificate  from  Linford  under  the 
minister's  hand,  that  he  received  the  communion 
at  Easter  last,  and  so  got  his  name  out.  Besides, 
the  deputy-lieutenants  of  Buckinghamshire  would 
have  charged  Biggin  Farm  with  a  light  horse,  but 
Sir  William  Allford  and  others  joined  with  me  to 
get  it  ofi^ 

Sir  Thomas  Wentworth  and  Mr  Wansford  are 
grown  great  courtiers  lately,  and  come  from  West- 
minster Hall  to  White  Hall  (Sir  Jo.  Saville,  tKeir 
countryman,  having  shown  them  the  way  with  his 
white  staff).  The  Lord  Weston  tampered  with 
the  one,  and  my  Lord  Cottington  took  pains  with 
the  other,  to  bring  them  about  from  their  violence 
against  the  prerogative.  And  I  am  told  the  first 
of  them  is  promised  my  lord's  place  at  York  in 
case  his  sickness  continues. 

We  are  like  to  have  peace  with  Spain  and 
France  ;  and  for  Germany,  they  say  the  Swedes 
are  like  to  strike  into  her,  to  try  whether  they  may 
have  better  fortunes  than  the  Danes. 

My  Lady  Scroop  (my  lord's  mother)  hath  lain 
sick  a  good  while,  and  is  very  weak.  —  So  I  rest, 
madame,  your  humble  and  dutiful  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Westminster,  5  August  1629. 


376  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XX 

To  Dr  H.  W. 

IT  is  a  rule  in  friendship,  "  when  distrust  enters  in 
at  the  fore  gate  love  goes  out  at  the  postern." 
It  is  as  true  a  rule  that  y)  aTTopCa  Trjt;  iincrTTJfJLr]'; 
ap^Tj  dubitation  is  the  beginning  of  all  knowledge. 
I  confess  this  is  true  in  the  first  election  and  co- 
optation  of  a  friend,  to  come  to  the  true  knowledge 
of  him  by  queries  and  doubts ;  but  when  there  is 
a  perfect  contract  made,  confirmed  by  experience 
and  a  long  tract  of  time,  distrust  then  is  mere 
poison  to  friendship.  Therefore,  if  it  be  as  I  am 
told,  I  am  unfit  to  be  your  friend,  but  your  servant, 

J.  H. 
Westminster,  20  October  1629. 

XXI 

To  Dr  H.  W. 

THEY  say  in  Italy  that  deeds  are  men  and 
words  are  but  women.  I  have  had  your 
word  often  to  give  me  a  visit.  I  pray  turn  your 
female  promises  to  masculine  performances,  else  I 
shall  think  you  have  lost  your  being ;  for  you  know 
it  is  a  rule  in  law,  idem  est  non  esse^  ^  non  apparere. 
Your  faithful  servitor, 

J.  H. 
Westminster,  25  September  1629. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  377 

To  Mr  B.  Chaworth^  on   my   valentine^  Mistress   Francis 
Metcalf  {now  Lady  Robinson)^  at  York 

A   Sonnet 

Could  I  charm  the  Queen  of  Love 
To  lend  a  quill  of  her  white  dove. 
Or  one  of  Cupid's  pointed  wings. 
Dipt  in  the  fair  Castalian  springs. 

Then  would  I  write  the  all  divine 

Perfections  of  my  Valentine. 

As  'mongst  all  flowers  the  rose  excels. 
As  amber  'mongst  the  fragrantest  smells. 
As  'mongst  all  minerals  the  gold. 
As  marble  'mongst  the  finest  mould, 
As  diamonds  'mongst  jewels  bright. 
As  Cynthia  'mongst  the  lesser  lights. 

So  'mongst  the  northern  beauties  shine 

So  far  excels  my  Valentine. 

In  Rome  and  Naples  I  did  view 
Faces  of  celestial  hue  ; 
Venetian  dames  I  have  seen  many 
(I  only  saw  them,  touched  not  any)  ; 
Of  Spanish  beauties,  Dutch  and  French, 
I  have  beheld  the  quintessence : 

Yet  saw  I  none  that  could  outshine 

Or  parallel  my  Valentine. 

The  Italians,  they  are  coy  and  quaint. 

But  they  grossly  daub  and  paint ; 

The  Spanish,  kind  and  apt  to  please. 

But  savouring  of  the  same  disease ; 

Of  Dutch  and  French,  some  few  are  comely. 

The  French  are  light,  the  Dutch  are  homely ; 

Let  Tagus,  Po,  the  Loire  and  Rhine 

Then  vail  unto  my  Valentine. 


378  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

Here  may  be  seen  pure  white  and  red. 

Not  by  feigned  art  but  nature  wed. 

No  simpering  smiles,  no  mimic  face. 

Affected  gesture,  or  forced  grace, 

A  fair  smooth  front,  free  from  least  wrinkle. 

Her  eyes  (on  me)  like  stars  do  twinkle; 

Thus  all  perfections  do  combine 

To  beautify  my  Valentine. 


XXII 

To  Mr  Tho.  M. 

NOBLE  TOM,  you  desired  me  lately  to  com- 
pose some  lines  upon  your  mistress's  black 
eyeSj  her  becoming  frowns,  and  upon  her  mask. 
Though  the  least  request  of  yours  be  a  command 
unto  me,  the  execution  of  it  a  contentment,  yet  I 
was  hardly  drawn  to  such  task  at  this  time,  in  re- 
gard that  many  businesses  puzzle  my  pericranium 
—  "  aliena  negotia  centum  per  caput  &  circa  sali- 
ent latus."  Yet  lest  your  Clorinda  might  expect 
such  a  thing,  and  that  you  might  incur  the  hazard 
of  her  smiles  (for  you  say  her  frowns  are  favours), 
and  that  she  may  take  off  her  mask  unto  you  the 
next  time  you  go  to  court  her,  I  send  you  the  en- 
closed verses  sonnetwise,  which  haply  may  please 
her  better  in  regard  I  hear  she  hath  some  skill  in 
music. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  379 

Upon  Black  Eyes  and  Becoming  Frowns 

A  Sonnet 

Black  eyes,  in  your  dark  orbs  doth  lie 

My  ill  or  happy  destiny. 

If  with  clear  looks  you  me  behold. 

You  give  me  mines  and  mounts  of  gold  ; 

If  you  dart  forth  disdainful  rays. 

To  your  own  dye  you  turn  my  days. 

Black  eyes,  in  your  dark  orbs  by  changes  dwell. 
My  bane  or  bliss,  my  paradise  or  hell. 

That  lamp  which  all  the  stars  doth  blind. 

Yields  to  your  lustre  in  some  kind. 

Though  you  do  wear  to  make  you  bright 

No  other  dress  but  that  of  night. 

He  glitters  only  in  the  day. 

You  in  the  dark  your  beams  display. 

Black  eyes,  in  your  two  orbs  by  changes  dwell, 
My  bane  or  bliss,  my  paradise  or  hell. 

The  cunning  thief  that  lurks  for  prize. 

At  some  dark  corner  watching  lies. 

So  that  heart-robbing  God  doth  stand 

In  your  black  lobbies,  shaft  in  hand. 

To  rifle  me  of  what  I  hold 

More  precious  far  than  Indian  Gold. 

Black  eyes,  in  your  dark  orbs  by  changes  dwell. 
My  bane  or  bliss,  my  paradise  or  hell. 

O  powerful  Negromantic  eyes. 

Who  in  your  circles  strictly  pries. 

Will  find  that  Cupid  with  his  dart 

In  you  doth  practise  the  black  art. 

And  by  the  enchantment  I'm  possessed. 

Tries  his  conclusions  in  thy  breast. 

Black  eyes,  in  your  dark  orbs  by  changes  dwell. 
My  bane  or  bliss,  my  paradise  or  hell. 


38o  FAMILIAR    LETTERS 

Look  on  me,  though  in  frowning  wise. 

Some  kind  of  frowns  become  black  eyes. 

As  pointed  diamonds  being  set. 

Cast  greater  lustre  out  of  Jet, 

Those  pieces  we  esteem  most  rare. 

Which  in  night  shadows  postur'd  are  ; 

Darkness  in  churches  congregates  the  sight. 

Devotion  strays  in  glaring  light. 

Black  eyes,  in  your  dark  orbs  by  changes  dwells 
My  bane  or  bliss,  my  paradise  or  hell. 

Touching  her  mask  I  will  not  be  long  about  it. 

Upon  Clorinda^ s  Mash 
So  have  I  seen  the  sun  in  his  full  pride 
O'ercast  with  sullen  clouds,  and  lose  his  light 
So  have  I  seen  the  brightest  stars  denied 
To  show  their  lustre  in  some  gloomy  night. 
So  Angels'  pictures  have  I  seen  veil'd  o'er. 
That  more  devoutly  men  should  them  adore; 
So  with  a  mask  saw  I  Clorinda  hide 
Her  face  more  bright  than  was  the  Lemnian  Bride. 

Whether  I  have  hit  upon  your  fancy,  or  fitted 
your  mistress  I  know  not.  I  pray  let  me  hear  what 
success  they  have  ;  so  wishing  you  your  heart's 
desire,  and  if  you  have  her,  a  happy  confarreation, 
I  rest  in  verse  and  prose,  yours, 

J.  H. 

Westminster,  29  of  March  1629. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  ij8i 


XXIII 

To  the  Right  Honourable  my  Lady  Scroops 
Countess  of  Sunderland  at  Langar 

Madam, 

I  AM  newly  returned  from  Hunsdon,  from  giv- 
ing the  rites  of  burial  to  my  lord's  mother. 
She  made  my  lord  sole  executor  of  all.  I  have  all 
her  plate  and  household  stuff  in  my  custody,  and 
unless  I  had  gone  as  I  did,  much  had  been  embez- 
zled. I  have  sent  herewith  the  copy  of  a  letter  the 
King  wrote  to  my  lord  upon  the  resignation  of  his 
place,  which  is  fitting  to  be  preserved  for  posterity 
amongst  the  records  of  Bolton  Castle.  His  Maj- 
esty expresseth  therein  that  he  was  never  better 
served  nor  with  more  exactness  of  fidelity  and  jus- 
tice by  any,  therefore  he  intends  to  set  a  special 
mark  of  his  favour  upon  him,  when  his  health 
will  serve  him  to  come  to  Court.  My  Lord  Carle- 
ton  delivered  it  me,  and  told  me  he  never  remem- 
bered that  the  King  wrote  a  more  gracious  letter. 
I  have  lately  bought  in  fee-farm,  Wanlesse  Park, 
off  the  King's  Commissioners  for  my  lord.  I  got 
it  for  six  hundred  pounds,  doubling  the  old  rent, 
and  the  next  day  I  was  offered  five  hundred 
pounds  for  the  bargain.  There  were  divers  that 
put  in  for  it,  and  my  Lord  of  Anglesey  thought 
himself  sure  of  it,  but  I  found  means  to  frustrate 
them  all.    I  also  compounded  with  Her  Majesty's 


382  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

Commissioners  for  respite  of  homage  for  Rabbi 
Castle.  There  was  ^120  demanded,  but  I  came 
off  for  40s.  My  Lord  Wentworth  is  made  Lord 
Deputy  of  Ireland,  and  carries  a  mighty  stroke  at 
Court.  There  have  been  some  clashings  betwixt 
him  and  my  Lord  of  Pembroke  lately,  with  others 
at  Court,  and  divers  in  the  north,  and  some,  as  Sir 
David  Fowler,  with  others,  have  been  crushed. 

He  pleased  to  give  me  the  disposing  of  the  next 
attorney's  place  in  York,  and  John  Lister  being 
lately  dead,  I  went  to  make  use  of  the  favour,  and 
was  offered  three  hundred  pounds  for  it,  but  some 
got  betwixt  me  and  home,  so  that  I  was  forced  to 
go  away  contented  with  one  hundred  pieces  Mr 
Ratcliff  delivered  me  in  his  chamber  at  Gray's  Inn, 
and  so  to  part  with  the  legal  instrument  I  had, 
which  I  did  rather  than  contest. 

The  duchess  your  niece  is  well.  I  did  what  your 
ladyship  commanded  me  at  York  House.  —  So 
I  rest,  madam,  your  ladyship's  ready  and  faithful 
servitor,  J.  H. 

Westminster,  this  i  of  July  \6ig. 

XXIV 

To  D.  C,  Esq.^  at  his  house  in  Essex 

My  D.  D., 

I  THANK  you  for  your  last  society  in  Lon- 
don, but  I  am  sorry  to  have  found  Jack  T.  in 
that  pickle,  and  that  he  had  so  far  transgressed 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  3^3 

the  Fannian  law,  which  allows  a  chirping  cup  to 
satiate,  not  to  surfeit,  to  mirth,  not  to  madness, 
and  upon  some  extraordinary  occasion  of  some  ren- 
counters, to  give  nature  a  fillip  but  not  a  knock, 
as  Jack  did.  I  am  afraid  he  hath  taken  such  a 
habit  of  it  that  nothing  but  death  will  mend  him, 
and  I  find  that  he  is  posting  thither  apace  by  this 
course.  I  have  read  of  a  King  of  Navarre  (Charles 
le  Mauvais)  who  perished  in  strong  waters,  and  of 
a  Duke  of  Clarence  that  was  drowned  in  a  butt  of 
Malmesey,  but  Jack  T.,  I  fear,  will  die  in  a  butt 
of  Canary.  Howsoever,  commend  me  unto  him, 
and  desire  him  to  have  a  care  of  the  main  chance. 
—  So  I  rest  yours,  J.  H. 

York,  5  July  1629. 

XXV 

To  Sir  Thomas  Lake,  Knight 

I  HAVE  shown  Sir  Kenelme  Digby  both  our 
translations  of  Martiall's  "  Vitam  quae  faciunt 
beatiorem,"  etc.,  and  to  tell  you  true  he  adjudged 
yours  the  better,  so  I  shall  pay  the  wager  in  the 
place  appointed,  and  try  whether  I  can  recover 
myself  3.t  gioco  d'  amore,  which  the  Italian  saith  is 
a  play  to  cosen  the  devil.  If  your  pulse  beat 
accordingly,  I  will  wait  upon  you  on  the  river  to- 
wards the  evening,  for  a  floundering  fit  to  get  some 
fish  for  our  supper.  —  So  1  rest,  your  true  servitor, 
3  July  \6i().  J.  H. 


384 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS 


XXVI 

To  Mr  Ben.  yohnson 

Father  Ben., 

YOU  desired  me  lately  to  procure  you  Dr 
Davies'  Welsh  Grammar  to  add  to  those 
many  you  have.  I  have  lighted  upon  one  at  last, 
and  I  am  glad  I  have  it  in  so  seasonable  a  time 
that  it  may  serve  for  a  New  Year's  gift,  in  which 
quality  I  send  it  you  ;  and  because  it  was  not  you, 
but  your  muse,  that  desired  it  of  me,  for  your 
letter  runs  on  feet,  I  thought  it  a  good  correspond- 
ence with  you  to  accompany  it  with  what  fol- 
lows : 


Italian. 
Spanish. 
French. 


Upon  Dr  Davies'  British  Grammar 

'T  was  a  tough  task,  believe  it,  thus  to  tame 
A  wild  and  wealthy  language,  and  to  frame 
Grammatic  toils  to  curb  her,  so  that  she 
Now  speaks  by  rules,  and  sings  by  prosody  ; 
Such  is  the  strength  of  art  rough  things  to  shape. 
And  of  rude  commons  rich  enclosures  make. 
Doubtless  much  oil  and  labour  went  to  couch 
Into  methodic  rules  the  rugged  Dutch  ; 
The  Rabbles  pass  my  reach,  but  judge  I  can 
Something  of  Clenard  and  Quintilian  ; 
And  for  those  modern  dames  I  find  they  three 
Are  only  lops  cut  from  the  Latian  tree. 
And  easy  'twas  to  square  them  into  parts. 
The  tree  itself  so  blossoming  with  arts. 
I  have  been  shown  for  Irish  and  Bascuence 
Imperfect  rules  couched  in  an  accidence  : 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  385 

But  I  find  none  of  these  can  take  the  start 
Of  Davies,  or  that  prove  more  men  of  art, 
Who  in  exacter  method  and  short  way. 
The  idioms  of  a  language  do  display. 

This  is  the  tongue  the  bards  sung  in  of  old. 
And  Druids  their  dark  knowledge  did  unfold. 
Merlin  in  this  his  prophecies  did  vent 
Which  through  the  world  of  fame  bear  such  extent. 
This  spoke  that  son  of  Mars,  and  Britain  bold 
Arthur.      Who  first  amongst  Christian  worthies  is  enrolled. 
This  Brennus,  who,  to  his  desire  and  glut. 
The  mistress  of  the  world  did  prostitute. 
This  Arviragus  and  brave  Catarac 
Sole  free,  when  all  the  world  was  on  Rome's  rack. 
This  Lucius  who  on  angel's  wings  did  soar 
To  Rome,  and  would  wear  diadem  no  more  ; 
And  thousand  heroes  more  which  should  I  tell 
This  new  year  scarce  would  serve  me,  so  farewell. 

—  Your  son  and  servitor,  J.  H. 

Cal.,  April  1629. 

XXVII 

Tc  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Bristol  at 
Sherburn  Castle 

My  Lord, 

I  ATTENDED  my  Lord  Cottington  before  he 
went  on  his  journey  towards  Spain,  and  put 
him  in  mind  of  the  old  business  against  the  Viceroy 
of  Sardinia,  to  see  whether  any  good  can  be  done, 
and  to  learn  whether  the  conde  or  his  son  be  solv- 
ent.   He  is  to  land  at  Lisbon  ;  one  of  the  King's 


386  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

ships  attends  him,  and  some  merchantmen  take  the 
advantage  of  this  convoy. 

The  news  that  keeps  greatest  noise  now  is  that 
the  Emperor  hath  made  a  favourable  peace  with  the 
Dane,  for  Tilly  had  crossed  the  Elbe  and  entered 
deep  into  Holstein  Land,  and  in  all  probability 
might  have  carried  all  before  him,  yet  that  king  had 
honourable  terms  given  him  and  a  peace  is  con- 
cluded (though  without  the  privity  of  England). 
But  I  believe  the  King  of  Denmark  fared  the  bet- 
ter, because  he  is  grandchild  to  Charles  the  Em- 
peror's sister.  Now  it  seems  another  spirit  is  like 
to  fall  upon  the  Emperor,  for  they  write  that  Gus- 
tavus.  King  of  Swethland,  is  struck  into  Germany 
and  hath  taken  Mecklenburg.  The  ground  of  his 
quarrel,  as  I  hear,  is  that  the  Emperor  would  not 
acknowledge,  much  less  give  audience  to,  his  am- 
bassadors. He  also  gives  out  to  come  for  the 
assistance  of  his  allies  the  dukes  of  Pomerland  and 
Mecklenburg,  nor  do  I  hear  that  he  speaks  any- 
thing yet  of  the  Prince  Palsgrave's  business. 

Don  Carlos  Caloma  is  expected  here  from 
Flanders  about  the  same  time  that  my  Lord 
Cottington  shall  be  arrived  at  the  Court  of  Spain. 
God  send  us  an  honourable  peace,  for  as  the 
Spaniard  says,  Nunca  vi  tan  malapaz^  que  ne  fuesse 
mejor,  que  la  mejor  guerra.  — Your  lordship's  most 
humble  and  ready  servant,  J.  H. 

London,  20  May  1629. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  387 

XXVIII 

To  my  Cousin  I.  P.,  at  Mr  Conradus 

Cousin, 

A  LETTER  of  yours  was  lately  delivered  me. 
I  made  a  shift  to  read  the  superscription, 
but  within  I  wondered  what  language  it  might  be 
in  which  it  was  written.  At  first  I  thought  it  was 
Hebrew  or  some  of  her  dialects,  and  so  went  from 
the  liver  to  the  heart,  from  the  right  hand  to  the 
left  to  read  it,  but  could  make  nothing  of  it.  Then 
I  thought  it  might  be  the  Chinese  language,  and 
went  to  read  the  words  perpendicular  ;  and  the 
lines  were  so  crooked  and  distorted  that  no  cohe- 
rence could  be  made.  Greek  I  perceived  it  was 
not,  nor  Latin  or  English.  So  I  gave  it  for  mere 
gibberish  and  your  characters  to  be  rather  hiero- 
glyphics than  letters.  The  best  is  you  keep  your 
lines  at  a  good  distance,  like  those  in  Chancery 
bills,  who,  as  a  clerk  said,  were  made  so  wide  of 
purpose,  because  the  clients  should  have  room 
enough  to  walk  between  them  without  jostling  one 
another;  yet  this  wideness  had  been  excusable  if 
your  lines  had  been  straight,  but  they  were  full  of 
odd  kind  of  undulations  and  windings.  If  you  can 
write  no  otherwise  one  may  read  your  thoughts 
as  soon  as  your  characters.  It  is  some  excuse  for 
you  that  you  are  but  a  young  beginner.  I  pray  let 
it  appear  in  your  next  what  a  proficient  you  are, 
otherwise  some  blame  may  light  on  me  that  placed 


388  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

you  there.  Let  me  receive  no  more  gibberish  or 
hieroglyphics  from  you,  but  legible  letters,  that  I 
may  acquaint  your  friends  accordingly  of  your 
good  proceedings.  —  So  I  rest  your  very  loving 
cousin,  J.  H. 

Westminster,  20  September  1629. 

XXIX 

To  the  Lord  Viscount  Wentworthy  Lord  Presi- 
dent of  Tork 

My   Lord, 

MY  last  was  of  the  first  current,  since  which  I 
received  one  from  your  lordship,  and  your 
commands  therein,  which  I  shall  ever  entertain 
with  a  great  deal  of  cheerfulness.  The  greatest 
news  from  abroad  is  that  the  French  King  with  his 
cardinal  are  come  again  on  this  side  the  hills,  hav- 
ing done  his  business  in  Italy  and  Savoy,  and  re- 
served still  Pignerol  in  his  hands,  which  will  serve 
him  as  a  key  to  enter  Italy  at  pleasure.  Upon  the 
highest  mountain  amongst  the  Alps  he  left  this 
ostentatious  inscription  upon  a  great  marble  pil- 
lar — 

A  la  memoire  eternelle  de  Louis  treiziesme, 

Roy  de  France  et  de  Navarre, 
Tres-Auguste,  tres-victorieux,  tres-heureux, 

Conquerant,  tres-juste  ; 
•Lequel  apres  avoir  vaincu  toutes  les  Nations 

de  r  Europe, 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  3^9 

II  a  encore  triomphe  les  Elements 

Du  ciel  et  de  la  terre, 
Ayant  passe  deux  fois  ces  Monts  au  mois 

de  Mars  avec  son  Armee, 
Victorieuse,  pour  remmettre  les  Princes 

d'ltalie  en  leurs  estats, 
Defendre  et  proteger  ses  Alliez. 

To  the  eternal  memory  of  Lewis  the  Thirteenth, 
King  of  France  and  Navarre,  most  gracious,  most 
victorious,  most  happy,  most  just,  a  conqueror  ; 
who  having  overcome  all  nations  of  Europe,  he 
hath  also  triumphed  over  the  elements  of  heaven 
and  earth,  having  twice  passed  over  these  hills  in 
the  month  of  March  with  his  victorious  army,  to 
restore  the  princes  of  Italy  to  their  estates,  and  to 
defend  and  protect  his  allies.  —  So  I  take  my  leave 
for  the  present,  and  rest  your  lordship's  most 
humble  and  ready  servitor,  J.   H. 

Westminster,  5  August  1629. 

XXX 

To  Sir  Kenelme  Digby^  Knight 

GIVE  me  leave  to  congratulate  your  happy 
return  from  the  Levant,  and  the  great  hon- 
our you  have  acquired  by  your  gallant  comport- 
ment in  Algiers  in  re-escating  so  many  English 
slaves  ;  by  bearing  up  so  bravely  against  the  Vene- 
tian fleet  in  the  bay  of  Scanderoon;  and  making 
the  Pantaloni  to  know  themselves  and  you  better. 
I   do   not  remember  to  have  read  or  heard  that 


390  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

those  huge  galleasses  of  Saint  Mark  were  beaten 
before.  I  give  you  the  joy  also  that  you  have 
borne  up  against  the  Venetian  ambassador  here, 
and  vindicated  yourself  of  those  foul  scandals  he 
had  cast  upon  you  in  your  absence.  Whereas  you 
desire  me  to  join  with  my  Lord  Cottingham  and 
others  to  make  affidavit  touching  Bartholomew 
Spinola,  whether  he  be  Vezino  de  Madrid,  viz. 
free  denison  of  Spain,  I  am  ready  to  serve  you 
herein,  or  to  do  any  other  office  that  may  right 
you,  and  tend  to  the  making  of  your  prize  good. 
Yet  I  am  very  sorry  that  our  Alleppo  merchants 
suffered  so  much. 

I  shall  be  shortly  in  London,  and  I  will  make 
the  greater  speed,  because  I  may  serve  you.  So 
I  humbly  kiss  my  noble  lady's  hand,  and  rest  your 
thrice  assured  servitor,  J.  H. 

Westminster,  25  November  1629. 

XXXI 

To  the  Right  Honourable  Sir  Peter  Wicht, 
Ambassador  at  Constantinople 

MASTER  SIMON  DIGBY  delivered  me 
one  from  your  lordship  of  the  first  of 
June;  and  I  was  extremely  glad  to  have  it,  for  I 
had  received  nothing  from  your  lordship  a  twelve- 
month before.  Mr  Comptroller  Sir  Tho.  Edmonds 
is  lately  returned  from  France,  having  renewed  the 
peace  which  was  made  up  to  his  hands  before  by 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  391 

the  Venetian  ambassadors,  who  had  much  laboured 
in  it,  and  had  concluded  all  things  beyond  the  Alps 
when  the  King  of  France  was  at  Susa  to  relieve 
Casal.  The  monsieur  that  was  to  fetch  him  from 
Saint  Denis  to  Paris  put  a  kind  of  jeering  com- 
pliment upon  him,  viz.  that  his  excellency  should 
not  think  it  strange  that  he  had  so  few  French 
gentlemen  to  attend  in  this  service,  to  accompany 
him  to  the  court,  in  regard  there  were  so  many 
killed  at  the  Isle  of  Rhee.  The  Marquis  of 
Chasteau  Neuf  is  here  from  France,  and  it  was 
an  odd  speech  also  from  him  reflecting  upon  Mr 
Comptroller,  that  the  King  of  Great  Britain  used 
to  send  for  his  ambassadors  from  abroad  to  pluck 
capons  at  home. 

Mr  Burlimach  is  to  go  shortly  to  Paris  to  re- 
cover the  other  moiety  of  Her  Majesty's  portion; 
whereof  they  say  my  Lord  of  Holland  is  to  have 
a  good  share.  The  Lord  Treasurer  Weston  is  he 
who  hath  the  greatest  vogue  now  at  court,  but 
many  great  ones  have  clashed  with  him.  He  is 
so  potent  that  I  hear  his  eldest  son  is  to  marry 
one  of  the  blood  royal  of  Scotland,  the  Duke  of 
Lennox's  sister,  and  that  with  His  Majesty's  con- 
sent. 

Bishop  Laud  of  London  is  also  powerful  in  his 
way,  for  he  sits  at  the  helm  of  the  church,  and 
doth  more  than  any  of  the  two  archbishops,  or 
all  the  rest  of  his  two-and-twenty  brethren  besides. 

In  your  next  I  should  be  glad  your  lordship 
would  do  me  the  favour  as  to  write  how  the  grand 


392  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

signior  is  like  to  speed  before  Bagdad  in  this  his 
Persian  expedition. 

No  more  now,  but  that   I   always  rest  your 
lordship's  ready  and  most  faithful  servitor, 

J.H. 

Westminster,  i  January  1629. 

XXXII 

To  my  Father 

SIR  THOMAS  WENTWORTH  hath  been 
a  good  while  Lord-President  of  York,  and 
since  is  sworn  Privy  Councillor,  and  made  baron 
and  viscount ;  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  himself 
flew  not  so  high  in  so  short  a  revolution  of  time. 
He  was  made  viscount  with  a  great  deal  of  high 
ceremony  upon  a  Sunday  in  the  afternoon  at 
Whitehall.  My  Lord  Powis  (who  affects  him  not 
much)  being  told  that  the  heralds  had  fetched  his 
pedigree  from  the  blood  royal,  viz.,  from  John  of 
Gaunt,  said,  "  Damme,  if  ever  he  come  to  be 
King  of  England,  I  will  turn  rebel."  When  I 
went  first  to  give  him  joy  he  pleased  to  give  me 
the  disposing  of  the  next  attorney's  place  that  falls 
void  in  York,  which  is  valued  at  three  hundred 
pounds.  I  have  no  reason  to  leave  my  Lord  of 
Sunderland,  for  I  hope  he  will  be  noble  unto  me; 
the  perquisites  of  my  place,  taking  the  King's  fee 
away,  came  far  short  of  what  he  promised  me  at 
my  first  coming  to  him,  in  regard  of  his  non- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  393 

residence  at  York,  therefore  I  hope  he  will  con- 
sider it  some  other  way.  This  languishing  sickness 
still  hangs  on  him,  and  I  fear  will  make  an  end 
of  him.  There  's  none  can  tell  what  to  make  of  it, 
but  he  voided  lately  a  strange  worm  at  Wickham  ? 
But  I  fear  there  's  an  imposthume  growing  in  him, 
for  he  told  me  a  passage,  how  many  years  ago  my 
Lord  Willoughby  and  he,  with  so  many  of  their 
servants  {de  gayete  de  cceur)  played  a  match  at 
football  against  such  a  number  of  countrymen, 
where  my  Lord  of  Sunderland,  being  busy  about 
the  ball,  got  a  bruise  in  the  breast  which  put  him 
in  a  swoon  for  the  present,  but  did  not  trouble 
him  till  three  months  after,  when  being  at  Bever 
Castle  (his  brother-in-law's  house)  a  qualm  took 
him  on  a  sudden,  which  made  him  retire  to  his 
bedchamber.  My  Lord  of  Rutland  following 
him,  put  a  pipe  full  of  tobacco  in  his  mouth,  and 
he,  being  not  accustomed  to  tobacco,  taking  the 
smoke  downwards,  fell  a-casting  and  vomiting  up 
divers  little  imposthumated  bladders  of  congealed 
blood  which  saved  his  life  then,  and  brought  him 
to  have  a  better  conceit  of  tobacco  ever  after,  and 
I  fear  there  is  some  of  that  clotted  blood  still  in 
his  body. 

Because  Mr  Hawes  of  Cheapside  is  lately  dead 
I  have  removed  my  brother  Griffith  to  the  Hen 
and  Chickens  in  Paternoster  Row  to  Mr  Taylor's, 
as  genteel  a  shop  as  any  in  the  city,  but  I  gave  a 
piece  of  plate  of  twenty  nobles  price  to  his  wife. 
I  wish  the  Yorkshire  horse  may  be  fit  for  your 


394  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

turn.  He  was  accounted  the  best  saddle  gelding 
about  York  when  I  bought  him  of  Captain  Philips 
the  muster-master.  And  when  he  carried  me  first 
to  London  there  was  twenty  pounds  offered  for 
him  by  my  Lady  Carlisle.  No  more  now,  but  de- 
siring a  continuance  of  your  blessing  and  prayers 
I  rest,  your  dutiful  son,  J.  H. 

London,  3  December  1630. 


XXXIII 

To  the  Lord  Cottington^  Ambassador-Extraor- 
dinary for  His  Majesty  of  Great  Britain  in 
the  Court  of  Spain 

My  Lord, 

I  RECEIVED  your  lordship's  lately  by  Harry 
Davies  the  Correo  Santo,  and  I  return  my 
humble  thanks,  that  you  were  pleased  to  be 
mindful  (amongst  so  many  high  negotiations)  of 
the  old  business  touching  the  Viceroy  of  Sardinia. 
I  have  acquainted  my  Lord  of  Bristol  accordingly. 
Our  eyes  here  look  very  greedily  after  your  lord- 
ship and  the  success  of  your  embassy,  and  we  are 
glad  to  hear  the  business  is  brought  to  so  good  a 
pass,  and  that  the  capitulations  are  so  honourable 
(the  high  effects  of  your  wisdom). 

For  news,  the  Swedes  do  notable  feats  in  Ger- 
many, and  we  hope  their  cutting  the  Emperor  and 
Bavarian  so  much  work  to  do,  and  the  good  offices 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  395 

we  are  to  expect  from  Spain  upon  this  redintegra- 
tion of  peace  will  be  an  advantage  to  the  Prince 
Palatin,  and  facilitate  matters  for  restoring  him  to 
his  country. 

There  is  little  news  at  our  court,  but  that  there 
fell  an  ill-favoured  quarrel  'twixt  Sir  Kenelme 
Digby  and  Mr  Goring,  Mr  Jermin  and  others 
at  St  James'  lately  about  Mrs  Baker  the  maid  of 
honour,  and  duels  were  like  to  grow  of  it,  but  that 
the  business  was  taken  up  by  the  lord  treasurer, 
mv  Lord  of  Dorset,  and  others  appointed  by  the 
King.  My  Lord  of  Sunderland  is  still  ill  disposed; 
he  willed  me  to  remember  his  hearty  service  to 
your  lordship,  and  so  did  Sir  Arthur  Ingram,  and 
my  lady ;  they  all  wish  you  a  happy  and  honour- 
able return,  as  doth  your  lordship's  most  humble 
and  ready  servitor,  J.   H. 

London,  i  March  1630. 

XXXIV 
*r<?  my  Lord  Viscount  Rocksavage 

My  Lord, 

SOME  say,  the  Italian  loves  no  favour,  but 
what 's  future;  though  I  have  conversed  much 
with  that  nation,  yet  I  am  nothing  infected  with 
their  humour  in  this  point :  for  I  love  favours 
passed  as  well,  the  remembrance  of  them  joys  my 
very  heart,  and  makes  it  melt  within  me  ;  when 
my  thoughts  reflect  upon  your  lordship   I   have 


2>9^  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

many  of  these  fits  of  joy  within  me,  by  the  pleas- 
ing speculation  of  so  many  most  noble  favours 
and  respects  which  I  shall  daily  study  to  improve 
and  merit.  My  lord,  your  lordship's  most  humble 
and  ready  servitor, 

J.  H. 
Westminster,  22  March  1630. 

XXXV 

To  the  Earl  of  Bristol 

My  Lord, 

I  DOUBT  not  but  your  lordship  hath  had  in- 
telligence from  time  to  time  what  firm  invasions 
the  King  of  Swedes  hath  made  into  Germany,  and 
by  what  degrees  he  hath  mounted  to  this  height, 
having  but  six  thousand  foot  and  five  hundred 
horse  when  he  entered  first  to  Mecklenburg,  and 
taken  that  town  while  commissioners  stood  treat- 
ing on  both  sides  in  his  tent ;  how  thereby  his 
army  much  increased,  and  so  rushed  further  into 
the  heart  of  the  country,  but  passing  near  Mag- 
denburg,  being  diffident  of  his  own  strength,  he 
suffered  Tilly  to  take  that  great  town  with  so  much 
effusion  of  brood,  because  they  would  receive  no 
quarter ;  your  lordship  hath  also  heard  of  the 
battle  of  Leipzic,  where  Tilly,  notwithstanding 
the  victory  he  had  got  over  the  Duke  of  Saxony 
a  few  days  before,  received  an  utter  discomfiture, 
upon  which  victory  the  King  sent  Sir  Thomas  Roe 


OF  JAMES   HOWELL  397 

a  present  of  two  thousand  pounds  and  in  his  letter 
calls  him  his  strenuum  consultorem^  he  being  one 
of  the  first  who  had  advised  him  to  this  German 
war  after  he  had  made  peace  betwixt  him  and  the 
Polander.  I  presume  also  your  lordship  heard  how 
he  met  Tilly  again  near  Ausburg,  and  made  him 
go  upon  a  wooden  leg  whereof  he  died,  and  after 
soundly  plundered  the  Bavarian,  and  made  him 
flee  from  his  own  house  at  Munchen,  and  rifled 
his  very  closets. 

Now  your  lordship  shall  understand,  that  the 
said  king  is  at  Mentz,  and  keeps  a  court  there  like 
an  emperor,  there  being  above  twelve  ambassadors 
with  him.  The  King  of  France  sent  a  great  mar- 
quis for  his  ambassador  to  put  him  in  mind  of  his 
articles,  and  to  tell  him  that  His  Christian  Majesty 
wondered  he  would  cross  the  Rhine  without  his 
privity,  and  wondered  more  that  he  would  invade 
the  Churchlands,  meaning  the  Archbishop  of 
Mentz,  who  had  put  himself  under  the  protection 
of  France.  The  Swede  answered  that  he  had  not 
broke  the  least  tittle  of  the  articles  agreed  on,  and 
touching  the  said  archbishop  he  had  not  stood 
neutral  as  was  promised,  therefore  he  had  justly 
set  on  his  skirts.  The  ambassador  replied,  in  case 
of  breach  of  articles,  his  master  hau  eighty  thou- 
sand men  to  pierce  Germany  when  he  pleased. 
The  King  answered,  that  he  had  but  twenty  thou- 
sand, and  those  should  be  sooner  at  the  walls  of 
Paris  than  his  fourscore  thousand  should  be  on  the 
frontiers  of  Germany.    If  this  new  conqueror  goes 


398  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

on  with  this  violence,  I  believe  it  will  cast  the 
policy  of  all  Christendom  into  another  mould,  and 
beget  new  maxims  of  State,  for  none  can  foretell 
where  his  monstrous  progress  will  terminate.  Sir 
Henry  Vane  is  still  in  Germany  observing  his  mo- 
tions, and  they  write  that  they  do  not  agree  well, 
as  I  heard  the  King  should  tell  him  that  he  spoke 
nothing  but  Spanish  to  him.  Sir  Robert  Anstruther 
is  also  at  Vienna,  being  gone  thither  from  the  diet 
at  Ratisbon. 

I  hear  the  infant  cardinal  is  designed  to  become 
Governor  of  the  Netherlands,  and  passeth  by  way 
of  Italy,  and  so  through  Germany  :  his  brother 
Don  Carlos  is  lately  dead.  —  So  I  humbly  take 
my  leave  and  rest,  my  lord,  your  lordship's  most 
humble  and  ready  servitor,  J.  H. 

Westminster,  23  April  1630. 

XXXVI 

To  my  noble  lady,  the  Lady  Cor. 

Madame, 

YOU  spoke  to  me  for  a  cook  who  had  seen 
the  world  abroad,  and  I  think  the  bearer 
hereof  will  fit  your  ladyship's  turn.  He  can  mari- 
nate fish,  make  jellies,  he  is  excellent  for  a  piquant 
sauce,  and  the  haugou.  Besides,  madam,  he  is 
passing  good  for  an  olla.  He  will  tell  your  lady- 
ship that  the  reverend  matron  the  olla-podrida  hath 
intellectuals  and  senses.    Mutton,  beef,  and  bacon 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  399 

are  to  her  as  the  will,  understanding,  and  memory 
are  to  the  soul.  Cabbage,  turnips,  artichokes,  po- 
tatoes and  dates  are  her  five  senses,  and  pepper 
the  common  sense.  She  must  have  marrow  to  keep 
life  in  her,  and  some  birds  to  make  her  light.  By 
all  means  she  must  go  adorned  with  chains  of 
sausages.  He  is  also  good  at  larding  of  meat  after 
the  mode  of  France.  Madame,  you  may  make 
proof  of  him,  and  if  your  ladyship  find  him  too 
saucy  or  wasteful  you  may  return  him  whence  you 
had  him.  —  So  I  rest,  madam,  your  ladyship's 
most  humble  servitor,  J.  H. 

Westminster,  2  June  1630. 

xxxvn 

To  Mr  E.  D. 

YOU  write  to  me  that  T.  B.  Intends  to  give 
money  for  such  a  place.  If  he  doth,  I  fear 
it  will  be  verified  in  him  that  a  fool  and  his  money 
is  soon  parted,  for  I  know  he  will  be  never  able  to 
execute  it.  I  heard  of  a  late  Secretary  of  State  that 
could  not  read  the  next  morning  his  own  hand- 
writing, and  I  have  read  of  Caligula's  horse  that 
was  made  consul,  therefore  I  pray  tell  him  from 
me  (for  I  wish  him  well)  that  if  he  thinks  he  is  fit 
for  that  office  he  looks  upon  himself  through  a  false 
glass.  A  trotting  horse  is  fit  for  a  coach  but  not 
for  a  lady's  saddle,  and  an  ambler  Is  proper  for  a 
lady's  saddle  but  not  for  a  coach.    If  Tom  under- 


400  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

takes  this  place  he  will  be  as  an  ambler  in  a  coach, 
or  a  trotter  under  a  lady's  saddle.  When  I  come 
to  town  I  will  put  him  upon  a  far  fitter  and  more 
feasible  business  for  him,  and  so  commend  me  to 
him,  for  I  am  his  and  your  true  friend, 

J.  H. 

Westminster,  5  June  1630. 


XXXVIII 

To  my  Father 

THERE  are  two  ambassadors-extraordinary  to 
go  abroad  shortly,  the  Earl  of  Leicester  and 
the  Lord  Weston.  This  latter  goes  to  France, 
Savoy,  Venice,  and  so  returns  by  Florence,  a  pleas- 
ant journey,  for  he  carries  presents  with  him  from 
King  and  Queen.  The  Earl  of  Leicester  is  to  go  to 
the  King  of  Denmark  and  other  princes  of  Ger- 
many. The  main  of  the  embassy  is  to  condole  the 
late  death  of  the  Lady  Sophia  Queen  Dowager  of 
Denmark,  our  King's  grandmother.  She  was  the 
Duke  of  Mecklenburg's  daughter,  and  her  hus- 
band. Christian  the  Third,  dying  young,  her  por- 
tion, which  was  forty  thousand  pounds,  was  restored 
her,  and  living  a  widow  forty-four  years  after,  she 
grew  to  be  so  great  a  housewife,  setting  three  or 
four  hundred  people  at  work,  that  she  died  worth 
near  two  millions  of  dollars,  so  that  she  was  reputed 
the  richest  queen  of  Christendom.    By  the  consti- 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  401 

tutions  of  Denmark  this  estate  is  divisible  amongst 
her  children,  whereof  she  had  five,  the  King  of 
Denmark,  the  Duchess  of  Saxonv,  the  Duchess 
of  Brunswick,  Oueen  Anne,  and  the  Duchess  of 
Holstein.  The  King  being  male  is  to  have  two 
shares,  our  King  and  the  Lady  Elizabeth  are  to  have 
that  which  should  have  belonged  to  Oueen  Anne  ; 
so  he  is  to  return  by  the  Hague.  It  pleased  my 
Lord  of  Leicester  to  send  for  me  to  Baynard's 
Castle,  and  proffer  me  to  go  secretary  in  this  em- 
bassy, assuring  me  that  the  journey  shall  tend  to 
my  profit  and  credit.  So  I  have  accepted  of  it,  for 
I  hear  very  nobly  of  my  lord,  so  that  I  hope  to 
make  a  boon  voyage  of  it.  I  desire,  as  hitherto, 
your  prayers  and  blessing  may  accompany  me. 
So,  with  my  love  to  my  brothers  and  sisters,  I 
rest,  your  dutiful  son, 

J.H. 
London,  5  May  1632. 


XXXIX 

To  Mr  Alder 7)1  an  Moulson^  Governor  of  the 
Merchant  Adventurers 

THE  Earl  of  Leicester  is  to  go  shortly  ambas- 
sador-extraordinary to  the  King  of  Denmark, 
and  he  is  to  pass  by  Hamburg.  I  understand  by 
Mr  Skinner  that  the  staple  hath  some  grievances 
to  be  redressed.   If  this  embassy  may  be  an  advan- 


402  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

tage  to  the  company  I  will  solicit  my  lord  that  he 
may  do  you  all  the  favour  that  may  stand  with  his 
honour.  So  I  shall  expect  your  instructions  accord- 
ingly, and  rest,  yours  ready  to  serve  you, 

J.  H. 
Westminster,  i  June  1632. 


XL 

'To  Mr  Alderman  Clethro,  Governor  of  the 
Eastland  Company 

I  AM  informed  of  some  complaints  that  your 
Company  hath  against  the  King  of  Denmark's 
officers  in  the  Sound.  The  Earl  of  Leicester  is 
nominated  by  His  Majesty  to  go  ambassador  ex- 
traordinary to  that  king  and  other  princes  of  Ger- 
many. If  this  embassy  may  be  advantageous  unto 
you,  you  may  send  me  your  directions  and  I  will 
attend  my  lord  accordingly,  to  do  you  any  favour 
that  may  stand  with  his  honour  and  conduce  to 
your  benefit  and  redress  of  grievances.  So  I  take 
my  leave,  and  rest,  yours  ready  to  do  you  service, 

J.H. 
Westminster,  i  of  June  1632. 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  403 


XLI 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
at  Pettworth 

My  Lord, 

SIR  JOHN  PENNINGTON  is  appointed 
to  carry  your  lordship  and  your  company 
to  Germany,  and  he  intends  to  take  you  up  at 
Margate.  I  have  been  with  Mr  Burlamach,  and 
received  a  bill  of  exchange  from  him  for  10,000 
dollars,  payable  in  Hamburg.  I  have  also  received 
^2000  of  Sir  Paul  Pinder  for  your  lordship's  use  ; 
and  he  did  me  the  favour  to  pay  it  me  all  in  old 
gold.  Your  allowance  hath  begun  since  the  25th 
of  July  last  at  ^8  per  diem,  and  is  to  continue  so 
till  your  lordship  return  to  His  Majesty.  I  under- 
stand by  some  merchants  to-day  upon  the  exchange 
that  the  King  of  Denmark  is  at  Luckstadt,  and 
stays  there  all  this  summer  ;  if  it  be  so,  it  will  save 
half  the  voyage  of  going  to  Copenhagen,  for  in  lieu 
of  the  Sound,  we  need  go  no  further  than  the  river 
of  Elbe.  —  So  I  rest  your  lordship's  most  humble 
and  faithful  servitor, 

J.  H. 
Westminster,  13  August  1632. 


404  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

XLII 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  Mohun 

My  Lord, 

THOUGH  any  command  from  your  lordship 
be  welcome  to  me  at  all  times,  yet  that  which 
you  lately  enjoined  me  in  yours  of  the  12th  of 
August,  that  I  should  inform  your  lordship  of 
what  I  know  touching  the  Inquisition  is  now  a 
little  unseasonable,  because  I  have  much  to  do  to 
prepare  myself  for  this  employment  to  Germany, 
therefore  I  cannot  satisfy  you  in  that  fulness  as  I 
could  do  otherwise.  The  very  name  of  the  Inqui- 
sition is  terrible  all  Christendom  over,  and  the 
King  of  Spain  himself  with  the  chiefest  of  his 
grandees  tremble  at  it.  It  was  founded  first  by 
the  Catholic  King,  Ferdinand  (our  Henry  the 
Eighth's  father-in-law),  for  he  having  got  Granada 
and  subdued  all  the  Moors,  who  had  had  firm 
footing  in  that  kingdom  about  700  years,  yet  he 
suffered  them  to  live  peaceably  a  while  in  point 
of  conscience;  but  afterwards  he  sent  a  solemn 
mandamus  to  the  Jacobin  friars  to  endeavour  the 
conversion  of  them  by  preaching  and  all  other 
means.  They  finding  that  their  pains  did  little 
good  (and  that  those  whom  they  had  converted 
turned  apostates),  obtained  power  to  make  a  re- 
search, which  afterwards  was  called  Inquisition  ; 
and  it  was  ratified  by  Pope  Sixtus  that  if  they 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  405 

would  not  conform  themselves  by  fair  means, 
they  should  be  forced  to  it.  The  Jacobins  being 
found  too  severe  herein,  and  for  other  abuses  be- 
sides, this  Inquisition  was  taken  from  them  and 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  most  sufficient  ecclesias- 
tics. So  a  council  was  established  and  officers 
appointed  accordingly.  Whosoever  was  found  pen- 
dulous and  brangling  in  his  religion  was  brought 
by  a  sergeant  called  Familiar  before  the  said  Coun- 
cil of  Inquisition.  His  accuser  or  delator  stands 
behind  a  piece  of  tapestry  to  see  whether  he  be 
the  party,  and  if  he  be,  then  they  put  divers 
subtile  and  entrapping  interrogatories  unto  him, 
and  whether  he  confesses  anything  or  no,  he  is 
sent  to  prison.  When  the  said  Familiar  goes  to 
any  house,  though  it  be  in  the  dead  of  the  night 
(and  that 's  the  time  commonly  they  use  to  come, 
or  in  the  dawn  of  the  day),  all  doors  and  trunks 
and  chests  fly  open  to  him,  and  the  first  thing  he 
doth  he  seizeth  the  party's  breeches,  searcheth  his 
pockets,  and  takes  his  keys,  and  so  rummageth 
all  his  closets  and  trunks  ;  and  a  public  notary 
whom  he  carrieth  with  him  takes  an  inventory 
of  everything,  which  is  sequestrated  and  deposited 
in  the  hands  of  some  of  his  next  neighbours.  The 
party  being  hurried  away  in  a  close  coach  and 
clapped  in  prison,  he  is  there  eight  days  before 
he  makes  his  appearance,  and  then  they  present 
unto  him  the  cross  and  the  missal-book  to  swear 
upon  ;  if  he  refuseth  to  swear,  he  convicteth  him- 
self, and  though  he  swear,  yet  he  is  remanded  to 


4o6  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

prison.    This  oath  commonly  is  presented  before 
any  accusation  be  produced.    His  gaoler  is  strictly 
commanded  to  pry  into  his  actions,  his  deportment, 
words,  and  countenance,  and  to  set  spies  upon  him, 
and  whosoever  of  his  fellow  prisoners  or  others 
can  produce  anything  against  him,  he  hath  a  re- 
ward for  it.    At  last,  after  divers  appearances,  ex- 
aminations, and  scrutinies,  the  information  against 
him  is  read,  but  the  witnesses'  names  are  concealed, 
then  is  he  appointed  a  proctor  and  an  advocate, 
but  he  must  not  confer  or  advise  with  them  pri- 
vately, but  in  the  face  of  the  court.    The  King's 
attorney  is  a  party  in  it,  and  the  accusers  com- 
monly the  sole  witnesses.    Being  to  name  his  own 
lawyers  oftentimes  others  are  discovered  and  fall 
into  trouble  ;  while  he  is  thus  in  prison,  he  is  so 
abhorred   and  abandoned   of  all   the  world   that 
none  will,  at  least  none  dare,  visit  him.    Though 
one  clear  himself,  yet  he  cannot  be  freed  till  an 
Act  of  Faith  pass,  which  is  done  seldom,  but  very 
solemnly.   There  are  few  who,  having  fallen  into 
the  gripes  of  the  Inquisition,  do  escape  the  rack; 
or  the  sanbenito,  which  is  a  straight  yellow  coat 
without   sleeves,    having  the  portrait  of  the  devil 
painted  up  and  down  in   black,  and  upon   their 
heads   they  carry  a  mitre  of  paper,  with  a  man 
frying  in  the  flames  of  hell  upon  it,  they  gag  their 
mouths,  and  tie  a  great  cord  about  their  necks. 
The  judges  meet  in  some  uncouth  dark  dungeon, 
and  the  executioner  stands  by,  clad  in  a  close  dark 
garment,  his  head  and  face  covered  with  a  chaperon, 


OF  JAMES  HOWELL  407 

out  of  which  there  are  but  two  holes  to  look 
through,  and  a  huge  link  burning  in  his  hand. 
When  the  ecclesiastic  inquisitors  have  pronounced 
the  anathema  against  him,  they  transmit  him  to 
the  secular  judges  to  receive  the  sentence  of  death, 
for  churchmen  must  not  have  their  hands  imbrued 
in  blood;  the  King  can  mitigate  any  punishment 
under  death,  nor  is  a  nobleman  subject  to  the 
rack. 

I  pray  be  pleased  to  pardon  this  rambling  im- 
perfect relation,  and  take  in  good  part  my  con- 
formity to  your  commands,  for  I  am  your  lord- 
ship's most  ready  and  faithful  servitor, 

J.  H. 

Westminster,  30  August  1632. 


END   OF  VOLUME  I 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
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